Advantages and risks of the procedure are discussed. Clinical assessment information is summarized online by the McCaig Centre for Joint Injury and Arthritis Research at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. The Web site of the Orthopaedics Department at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine offers information about knee and ankle cartilage replacement. Specific information on ankle surgery is posted. No goods, fees, or services were exchanged for this listing or for Dr. William Bugbee's appearance in this report.
Surgeons chisel away as if they're working on a sculpture.
They're readying another patient for a procedure they've used for knees. Cartilage transplants, using live human donor tissue to reconstruct joints, is not new for knees, but it is for ankles. The procedure is for joints that have suffered trauma in situations like skiing or auto accidents when cartilage has been crushed. Unlike bone, cartilage does not have the ability to heal itself. The innovative orthopedic procedure comes out of a region known for setting trends for the rest of the country, from snowboarding or plastic surgery, Southern California, specifically San Diego.