Is OATS knee surgery worth itCartilage damage beyond a certain point cannot self-repair. OATS transplants healthy cartilage plugs to replace it, with 85–93% achieving clinical success and improvements sustained at ten and twenty years, though 10–15% experience persistent donor-site pain.Cartilage damage beyond a certain point cannot self-repair. OATS transplants healthy cartilage plugs to replace it, with 85–93% achieving clinical success and improvements sustained at ten and twenty years, though 10–15% experience persistent donor-site pain.
MACI vs Microfracture for Knee Cartilage RepairFor focal knee cartilage defects above 3 cm², MACI outperformed microfracture across all clinical measures: pain scores improved to 82.5 versus 70.9 at two years, with durability sustained at five-year follow-up.For focal knee cartilage defects above 3 cm², MACI outperformed microfracture across all clinical measures: pain scores improved to 82.5 versus 70.9 at two years, with durability sustained at five-year follow-up.