Clinics in sports medicine
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Meniscal repair is an important technique for the orthopaedic surgeon. As familiarity, equipment, and techniques improve, the interest in expanding the indications for application of meniscal repair also increases toward improving patient outcomes and long-term function. An overview of the indications, techniques, complications, and future direction of meniscal repair is presented in this article.
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Experience with fresh osteochondral allografting for cartilage defects in the knee now extends two decades. Clinical outcomes and basic scientific investigations have supported the theoretic basis for this procedure. At the University of California, San Diego, our experience has encouraged us to continue to offer this procedure as a primary treatment for both large and small articular cartilage defects in the young knee. ⋯ Disadvantages of fresh osteochondral allografting include the relative paucity of donor tissue, complexities in procurement and handling, and the possibility of disease transmission through the transplantation of fresh tissue. At present, only institutions that have overcome these obstacles seem capable of routinely performing this type of articular cartilage transplantation. In the future, as tissue banking and cartilage storage technology advance, fresh allograft tissue may become more available, allowing more widespread use of fresh osteochondral allografting in the treatment of articular cartilage lesions.