Cartiform: Warning! Arthrosurface: Warning!

[taylob]

I'll save the reader all the pain and torment this product and Arthrosurfaces' medial femoral inlay caused me. I'll just say that it was NINE MONTHS OF HELL.

I was told that Cartiform had a 90% success rate by Dr. Davidson out of Park City and Salt Lake. Dr. Davidson also told me that the Arthrosurface inlay had a 98% success rate.

I had my first surgery on July 2016 with the Carfiform on the back of my patella on the right leg. On August 31st I had the Cartiform graft on the back of my left patella and an Athrosurface inlay on my medial femoral condyle. Each and every procedure cause me significant and sustained pain and needed to be redone. I'll let the photos show what I mean. The photos show how the inlay dug into the cartilage of the tibia, which was healthy prior to the procedure, and the Cartiform flaking completely off (in one photo) and crumbling apart in another. There may be many reasons this happened, but I would never, ever do it again and I would not recommend it for anyone I knew. Beware.

[reflex_nl]

wow... quite a story. thanks for sharing. wish you good luck on the recovery.

[dal_knee]

Taylob
I'm sorry this is happening to you. You indicated the procedures are being redone ? Can you elaborate? Are you still seeing Dr Davidson or going somewhere else?

[taylob]

I had to have a TKR to fix the inlay and patella, and I had a partial (patella femoral) for the other. I did NOT go to Davidson. Davidson didn't want to fix the issue. He said my hometown of Boise, Idaho had good TKR surgeons, and he was correct in this. Recovering from these have been difficult but at least they're healing and not falling apart. What's your situation? I'm told I will be able to bike without restriction in the future, and that has been my goal all along; however, being completely pain free will be acceptable.

[Aly0108]

I had to have a TKR to fix the inlay and patella, and I had a partial (patella femoral) for the other. I did NOT go to Davidson. Davidson didn't want to fix the issue. He said my hometown of Boise, Idaho had good TKR surgeons, and he was correct in this. Recovering from these have been difficult but at least they're healing and not falling apart. What's your situation? I'm told I will be able to bike without restriction in the future, and that has been my goal all along; however, being completely pain free will be acceptable.

Why? Can you say more detail?

[dal_knee]

I had to have a TKR to fix the inlay and patella, and I had a partial (patella femoral) for the other. I did NOT go to Davidson. Davidson didn't want to fix the issue. He said my hometown of Boise, Idaho had good TKR surgeons, and he was correct in this. Recovering from these have been difficult but at least they're healing and not falling apart. What's your situation? I'm told I will be able to bike without restriction in the future, and that has been my goal all along; however, being completely pain free will be acceptable.

Hi Taylob,
The reason I was asking is because I had consulted with Davidson about Cartiform around late 2015 and he "steered" me toward an inlay without offering a medical explanation (after I asked for one) as to why that would be "better" for my particular knee situation (2 partial medial meniscectomies and 2 cartilage defects).
I hope the knee replacements can get you to where you want to be.

[taylob]

Not sure what you mean by why. The inlay that Davidson put in must not have been at the correct angle because it dug into the cartilage of the tibia all the way to the bone in just a few months, which meant that I had to have a TKR to fix it. The Cartiform on the back sides of both patellas simply fell off or crumbled away. Once that happened I had large circular defects all the way to the bone. These defects were worse than my original defects because Davidson scooped out cartilage to make it circular so that a 2cm circular piece of Cartiform would fill in the defect. I had to have the partial on the other knee because the large defect left after the Cartiform fell out was way too painful.

Canyonking had success with Cartiform so I can't say it doesn't work, but I absolutely believe Cartiform does not work anywhere near the 85-90 % I was lead to believe.

[diesiel]

are you going to pursue any legal action? Seems like he seriously misled you...

[taylob]

Hi Diesiel: No legal pursuits for me. I'm working through the emotional/mental baggage of the botched surgeries, and working through a lawsuit would be the wrong move. I feel like I'm now through it and healing slowly, so that's were I'll put my energies. I think it helps to spell it out for others just so there is a counter argument to Cartiform and Davidson. If I would have seen the photos that I posted, I would have saved myself from all the hell I experienced. At the time, all I read was positive.

[exrunner1]

Hi Diesiel: No legal pursuits for me. I'm working through the emotional/mental baggage of the botched surgeries, and working through a lawsuit would be the wrong move. I feel like I'm now through it and healing slowly, so that's were I'll put my energies. I think it helps to spell it out for others just so there is a counter argument to Cartiform and Davidson. If I would have seen the photos that I posted, I would have saved myself from all the hell I experienced. At the time, all I read was positive.

This makes me rethink about cartiform. Good to know the other side too.