KNEE ARTHRITIS - Autologous chondrocyte implantation (A.C.I.) :
Anyone Run after Carticel - - Posted by jackpowell (jackpowell), 20 March 2004
Hi,
Has anyone who has had Carticel ever successfully been able to run on a regular basis after having the surgery?
Posted by cat123 (cat123), 22 March 2004
hi
that is the same Q i would like answered,i have ran for 20yrs with no problem until 3yrs ago ,running my usual 5mls i felt as if i got hit with a brick on my knee, couldnt put any weight on it for 8 wks.
after yrs of bad diagnosis a scope showed wear on my articular cartilege bone on bone. at present just waiting to go infor first stage of op,and hope to get back running 3-4 times a wk when given the go ahead by my ortho
cat123
Posted by jackpowell (jackpowell), 28 March 2004
Hi Cat123,
I have a similar background. Ran for 26 year and then one day, I had to stop short and tore articular cartilege. I will be having the surgery soon also, so we need to compare notes.
E-mail me at jack2000man@yahoo.com
Posted by Jack_Fate (Jack_Fate), 7 August 2004
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone had heard anything as to the running question? I've been into running 3-5mls, 5d/wk prior to my injury. I'm wondering if my marathon goal is just a dream post my ACI surgery? Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by hmaxwell (Heather M.), 8 August 2004
I'm no doctor, but I do have early osteoarthritis. I have to say that if you ran all those years, and then want to continue after ACI, you need to be very upfront with your desire when you talk to an orthopedic surgeon. The thing is, SOMETHING caused you to prematurely wear out your articular cartilage. And the ACI/Carticel procedure just replaces it...but no one knows how long it lasts under impact situations. Furthermore, I'm guessing there have to be some kind of mechanical issues that caused you to unevenly and prematurely wear out your own cartilage. Unless you have an osteotomy or something, those mechanical issues will still exist when you have recovered from your ACI/Carticel.
I really would be frank with the doctor. And I would talk to more than one. My OS's job is to restore people to their athletic careers. But anytime you get into articular cartilage repair, you are playing a game of chance as well as science. I would think that the *vast* majority of patients considering ACI are looking to reduce their pain levels during every day and normal-life activities...not to go back to major mileage at the track.
Again, I'm no doctor, this is just my take after 3 years of researching cartilage restoration. I would frankly be thrilled to walk without pain. Running would be frosting, and I'm not sure that I would risk my new cartilage by taking on pounding impact activities after recovery. My OS told me once that some people just aren't meant to run. Others can do 10 miles a day without a break for 30+ years. You have to decide what the most important thing in your life is to you. For me, it's a painfree existence...since I'm missing cartilage on the back of my patella and have bone on bone contact there, and since the patellar cartilage restoration has had a less than stellar success rate, I'm not even sure how reasonable it is to hope for a painfree existence. But I would never jeopardize that by going back to my impact activities. If and when I get my knee fixed (and believe me, it's a big if), I will take care of my second-chance cartilage. Swimming, biking, low-impact hiking and such. No running, no aerobics, and no sky-diving (a secret dream of mine is to get certified).
But I understand that for some people giving up running is unthinkable. I just hope that your OS is honest with you about the prospects of doing this. And about the price that you may pay by pursuing running. It may well be that the price is worth it to you; but be sure that when you make that decision it is informed. I miss running a lot (gave it up 8 years ago) and have found other methods of exercise that give me a similar feeling. Nothing is quite as good as running outside and getting all sweaty and hot and feeling invincible. But I would gladly give up any possibility of ever doing that again if I could just have the rest of my life back.
Anyway, I'm going to assume that you all have done research on ACI/Carticel and what the limitations are afterward. Those of you who have very early wear and tear of the cartilage (i.e. no trauma or injury, just erosion over time) should discuss with the surgeon how to alter your knee mechanics to preserve the new cartilage grown in the lab. Otherwise, you will possibly be facing the same problem a couple of years down the road. And understand that your new knees may well have a certain number of 'miles' of activity left in them...and running probably consumes double the miles compared to other activities. So make sure that, say, you'd rather have 7 years of running than 15 years of pain-free knees for regular, lower-impact activity. Of course no one can clearly say that your new knee will last x number of years, but I can say with confidence that most surgeons will agree that runners wear their joints out at a much faster rate than most other athletes. If you were blessed with good genetics and knee mechanics, this probably won't be a problem. But if you were cursed with crummy knee mechanics like I was, that simply can't be ignored.
I really feel that everyone should be allowed to make their own decisions. I continued with competitive swimming and running even after being diagnosed with a repetitive stress injury at age 13. But I really don't feel like I had all the information when I made the decision to keep competing. Believe me, if I'd known I would have osteoarthritis at age 31, I would have given up running at age 13 and never looked back....
Heather
Updated Mon Dec 1 2008