Video - The paste graft technique

Dr Kevin Stone explains how microfracture and paste-grafting are combined to replace a damaged joint surface.

First published 2010 by Dr Kevin R Stone, and reviewed August 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)

 

This is an interview with Dr. Kevin Stone on articular cartilage paste grafting, demonstrating the paste graft technique.

 

 

Transcript of video

Articular cartilage paste grafting is a technique we developed in 1991 to replace arthritic surfaces in the knee joint. Let me explain how it works…

The knee joint has two types of cartilage. First there is the articular cartilage - the covering of the end of the bone. Next there is the meniscus cartilage - the shock absorber for the joint.

When the joint becomes arthritic the articular cartilage wears down to the surface of the bone. This articular cartilage can be replaced or regenerated by a technique called ‘articular cartilage paste grafting’.

Let me explain that technique. First we look into the joint and bloody the surface of the joint that has become arthritic - so when this is worn down to bone we can make little holes here to release the marrow cells from the bone marrow to the surface. We then can take articular cartilage and underlying cancellous bone from the intercondylar notch - where it is not needed - out of the knee and smash it into a paste. That paste contains marrow stem cells that - when packed back onto this articular surface - regrow an articular cartilage repair surface.

The video continues....

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