Articular Cartilage

Damaged articular cartilage has a limited ability to heal on its own. Damage can lead to pain, swelling, and loss of motion. The articular cartilage paste graft was developed in 1991 by Dr. Kevin R. Stone as a cost-effective, minimally invasive technique for cartilage repair indicated for both widespread and focal cartilage damage.

The technique uses autologous cartilage and bone harvested from the intercondylar notch, morselized into a paste, and impacted into the prepared defect. Unlike other techniques, paste grafting is entirely arthroscopic, uses autologous tissue, and is performed in a single session.

Our long-term outcome data demonstrates that paste grafting provides durable pain relief and functional improvement for patients with severe cartilage damage—a population often told their only option is joint replacement.

The 2016 study showing a median benefit time of 19.1 years represents one of the longest follow-ups in cartilage repair literature. For patients who ultimately required arthroplasty, the procedure successfully delayed it to a mean age of 60.2 years—when joint replacement outcomes are typically most favorable.

The 2020 basic science study provided mechanistic insight: contrary to the long-held belief that impaction trauma kills chondrocytes, morselization actually stimulates cell proliferation and matrix production, supporting the clinical observations of cartilage regeneration.