Dr. Scott McMullen and Ankle Cartilage Replacement Using Mosaicplasty
Scott McMullen, M.D.
Orthopaedic surgeon with the Alegent Health Orthopaedic Institute
Because the ankle absorbs two to three times the force of our bodies. Combine this with arthritis or injury, and the cartilage in this joint can become damaged. When cartilage repairs don't work, an option is mosaicplasty.
Particularly suitable for patients between the ages of 20 and 50, mosaicplasty involves taking cartilage from another part of the body, usually the knee, and transplanting it where cartilage is badly needed.
According to Scott McMullen, M.D., orthopaedic surgeon with the Alegent Health Orthopaedic Institute, "the ankle joint does not have any extra cartilage that's thick enough to replace this, so we go to the knee."
When the replacement cartilage is your own, you heal more quickly, and you have a better chance that the new cartilage will last. Recovery requires six weeks on crutches to allow for complete healing, and can end years of pain.
"At first, I thought I was falling apart," says patient Daniel McKinney. "I wasn't able to go to the park and ride a bicycle with my daughter; now I can."
Find out more about the Alegent Health Orthopaedic Institute.
