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Question:
I hurt my right knee several years ago. And have seen a specialist for years. MRI's have shown
degenerative cartilage. All I do is go every three
months and have an injection put in it, and have to
wear a brace. The knee hurts all of the time, but
more so as the injection wears off. It is a treatment, but not a cure. Is there an alternative to this process? I would be thankful for any help.
Question submitted by:
Robert Kirk - axmech@juno.com
| Dr. Alleyne |
Dr. Ken Alleyne recently completed a Sports Medicine
Fellowship at Yale's School of Medicine and is currently in private practice in Connecticut. He trained at the
Wake Forest University School of Medicine and completed a research
fellowship at Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
His residency training in orthopedic surgery was undertaken at the Howard University
Hospital. You can read a Knee1 exlusive interview with Dr. Alleyne here.
|
Answer:
Your doctor is taking an accepted approach to your knee but one that is part of a considerable armamentarium for knee cartilage issues. Many orthopedic surgeons do not utilize several steroid injections with the span of a year for multiple reasons. There are other alternatives to steroids that include other injectable agents, cartilage focused procedures like Genzyme's Carticel and knee replacement. In between there are many procedures that try to alleviate the pain and disability caused by articular cartilage damage. Not knowing the extent of the involvement of your knee it is difficult to reccomend a particular procedure nor would it be prudent to second guess your doctor. You should know that there might be alternatives that can be offered to you and you may want to inquire regarding them.
