Aching knee? Nose tissue can fix it

SURGEONS are taking tissue from the nose to grow cartilage to fix knee-joint pain.

The operation sees cartilage harvested from the nose, which is then used to grow patches of tissue to be transplanted on to knee joints.

The procedure is regarded as particularly beneficial for osteoarthritis patients, or those at risk of the joint disease, and doctors carrying out the operation say it could help thousands of people.

The treatment has yet to be launched in the UK but the first 100 patients have had it in Europe.

Cartilage is a tough, flexible tissue that covers the surface of joints. It enables bones to slide over one another, while reducing friction and acting as a shock absorber.

In osteoarthritis, cartilage gradually deteriorates and thins, leading to pain and some loss of functioning. It particularly affects knee joints.

If small defects in the cartilage are left untreated, known as a microfracture, the risk of developing osteoarthritis increases significantly.

The most widely used procedure to repair the injury involves trimming any remaining damaged tissue and drilling holes in the bone beneath the defect to trigger bleeding and scar tissue that, it is hoped, can work as a substitute tissue.

But according to the NHS, results are variable, with studies suggesting that it offers only short-term benefits and does not lead to the formation of new cartilage.

Tissue from the nose can be quickly and easily harvested.

‘Harvesting of nasal cartilage is less invasive that taking joint cartilage, and is comparable to a dentist procedure with local anaesthesia,’ says Dr Marcus Mumme, one of doctors carrying out the treatment at centres across Europe.

‘Nasal cartilage tissue is more resistant to inflammation, and we have found that tissueengineered nasal cartilage can adapt to a joint environment.’

In the new treatment, doctors engineer cartilage from tissue taken from the nasal septum.

They isolate the cartilage cells, and grow them in the laboratory for 14 days, after which they are transferred to a patch made of collagen.

The patch is then stitched into place over the cartilage defect in the knee using keyhole surgery techniques.

The idea is that the patch grown from the nose tissue will mesh with the adjacent cartilage on the knee to repair existing damage and prevent future problems.

In the past, medical professionals have used injections of stem cells to treat osteoarthritis, but the researchers behind the new treatment believe that using mature cells already committed to cartilage – called chondrocytes – will be more effective and will act faster.