An osteochondral allograft is a technique to take a piece of cartilage and bone from a cadaver (as opposed to your own knee) and place it in the area that the cartilage is missing. This technique is good when there is a large area of cartilage that is missing, or if there is both bone and cartilage missing (such as cases of osteochondritis dessicans). The donor allograft is testing for bacteria, hepatitis, and HIV. However, there is always a small chance of disease transmission from an allograft. An osteochondral allograft usually requires an open incision on the knee.

• Patient Guide to Articular Cartilage Injury (1.1Mb)

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