Cartilage Transplants

Cartilage transplants are becoming more and more common, especially for young people who have suffered injury from an automobile accident or athletics. These transplants can repair knees, shoulders, and ankles where cartilage may be either missing or damaged.

Generally, candidates for cartilage transplants are less than 50 years of age with joint damage that needs repairing. For these younger patients, a cartilage transplant is a better option than a joint replacement, because they could need another joint replacement later in life if their first joint replacement wears out.

cartilage (Photo credit: jetheriot)

Thousands of cartilage transplants are done across the U.S. each year. They are classified as tissue transplants and are different from organ transplants. For instance :

• Cartilage does not need a blood supply as it gets its nutrition from joint fluid. Therefore, it can stay viable in a tissue bank for a significant period of time.
• Cartilage recipients do not have to take anti-rejection medication, because no tissue typing is done.

A cartilage transplant recipient's recovery period is six months to a year. It includes physical therapy during the first three months, resumption of strenuous activity after six, and a full recovery after a year.

Not everyone can be an organ donor but almost everyone can be a tissue donor. Cartilage and other tissue transplants are just as important as organ transplants, in some cases, because they can dramatically improve a person's quality of life.

For more information about organ and tissue donation, including how to register where you live, please visit our website www.SaveLivesTN.org by clicking here.

Read more - article on www.utSanDiego.com titled "Cartilage Transplant Now A Common, Viable Option"