Microfracture surgery due to a lack of studies on the long-term effects and the fact that an unsuccessful surgery could end an athlete's career. Dr. Steadman has also adapted the surgery into a treatment to help reattach torn ligaments (a technique he calls the "healing response") The surgery is performed by arthroscopy, after the joint is cleaned of calcified cartilage. Through use of an awl, the surgeon creates tiny fractures in the subchondral bone plate. Blood and bone marrow (which contains stem cells) seep out of the fractures, creating a blood clot that releases cartilage-building cells. The microfractures are treated as an
Surgery cornea) or to a radiosurgical procedure (e.g. irradiation of a tumor). Surgical procedures are commonly categorized by urgency, type of procedure, body system involved, degree of invasiveness, and special instrumentation. Inpatient surgery is performed in a hospital, and the patient stays at least one night in the hospital after the surgery. Outpatient surgery occurs in a hospital outpatient department or freestanding ambulatory surgery center, and the patient is discharged the same working day. Office surgery occurs in a physician's office, and the patient is discharged the same working day. At a hospital, modern surgery is often performed in an operating