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
Arthroscopy (journal) Arthroscopy (journal) Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery is a peer-reviewed medical journal that was established in 1985 and covers research on the clinical practice of arthroscopic and minimally invasive surgery, a subspecialty of orthopedic surgery. It is the official journal of the Arthroscopy Association of North America. The initiative in establishing the journal was taken by Robert Metcalf and the first editor-in-chief was S. Ward Casscells, who was succeeded in 1992 by Gary G. Poehling. In 2014 James H. Lubowitz succeeded the retiring Dr. Poehling. Arthroscopy Techniques is an open access online companion journal publishing peer-reviewed techniques