If you were Roy just how far are you willing to go to try and fix or improve your knees? Would you be willing to be the first athlete to have a procedure done like Tommy John did? If I were Roy I'd shut it down for the season and immediately start looking at any and all options. Here's an interesting article I found on the University of Washington's Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine website- Meniscus Allograft Replacement Surgery: A minimally invasive method to restore previously removed torn knee cartilage with cadaver tissue Review of the condition Characteristics of meniscus tear A torn meniscus generally produces pain in the region of the tear and swelling in the knee joint. These symptoms are made worse with pivoting motions, squatting, and vigorous activities. Torn meniscus fragments can get caught in the knee joint and cause catching sensations. If a large enough fragment becomes lodged between the bearing surfaces, the knee may ‘lock’ and become unable to be fully bent or extended. Since most meniscus tears are not repairable, they require removal of meniscus tissue (meniscectomy). The loss of meniscus cushioning overloads the articular (gliding surface) cartilage leading to the development of arthritis over the ensuing decades. A few patients experience pain in the region of the removed cartilage prior to the development of arthritic changes. This small group may benefit from allograft meniscus surgery. Types Meniscus tears are described by the tear pattern. Tears occur in either the horizontal or vertical direction, or a combination of both. Although the goal of meniscus surgery is to preserve healthy meniscus tissue, many types of tears are not repairable. A meniscus tear requires a blood supply to heal, and since only the peripheral third of the meniscus has it, repairs are generally limited to the peripheral region. Please see arthroscopic meniscectomy, and arthroscopic meniscus repair for more information. Similar conditions Injuries to the articular (gliding surface) cartilage can also cause pain, swelling and catching symptoms in the knee. An experienced surgeon can often distinguish between the two conditions with a thorough history and physical exam, but MRI can be useful as well. These two conditions can occur together and are most accurately diagnosed by arthroscopy. Please see articular cartilage injuries for more information. Incidence and risk factors Meniscus tears are common in active participants of sports, which require cutting and pivoting. In the United States, there are an estimated 850,000 meniscus surgeries performed each year, the vast majority being meniscus removal (meniscectomy) operations. The meniscus on the side closest to the other knee (medial) is torn more frequently, and men injure their meniscus more often than women. Diagnosis A torn meniscus is diagnosed with a thorough history and physical exam. Traumatic meniscus tears often occur with twisting type or hyper-flexion injuries. Physical exam maneuvers that reproduce these symptoms may include squatting and rotational manipulations. MRI is useful to confirm the diagnosis, but the most accurate test is diagnostic arthroscopy. The short term results from menisectomy and meniscus repair are good, but a few patients who have had significant portions of their meniscus removed, develop pain in the local area. X-rays are important to make sure that arthritis has not yet developed, since meniscus replacement is not effective once advanced degenerative changes are present. Medications Anti-inflammatory medications, taken by mouth or injected directly into the knee, can be useful to reduce the pain and swelling symptoms associated with meniscus tears, but do not improve healing. No medications or nutritional supplements have been scientifically documented as beneficial for meniscus healing. Exercises Quadriceps strengthening exercises are useful to reduce swelling and restore normal muscular control to an injured knee. They useful to reduce symptoms and speed rehabilitation. Possible benefits of allograft meniscus replacement surgery The meniscus is an important structure for load transmission and shock absorption in the knee. The knee is subjected to up to 5 times body weight during activity, and half this force is transmitted through the meniscus with the knee straight, and 85% of the force goes through the meniscus with the knee bent ninety degrees. Loss of the meniscus increases the pressure on the articular (gliding) cartilage, which eventually leads to degenerative changes. Pain may develop in the area after a significant portion of the meniscus has been removed. A successful meniscus replacement restores the cushioning meniscus tissue, relieving this pain. http://www.orthop.washington.edu/uw...6/ItemID__287/PageID__2/Articles/Default.aspx
While it is interesting, there is also the question about if this is a procedure just to help the everyday person who doesn't put the stress levels on their knee that Roy would, get back to a normal life, or is this for an athlete who will be putting extreme pressure on the knee's?
That's part of the risk, Tommy John faced similar questions, so did the first recipients of micro-fracture surgery. We know that things are not going to get better without something being done. If I'm Darius Miles who doesn't really love basketball and has just gotten by on athleticism I wouldn't but if I were Brandon Roy who has a drive to be great and a love for the game at 26yrs old I'd look at either using cadaver tissue or tissue generated from my own stem cells replaced back in at least one knee.
I doubt there's an even somewhat acceptable procedure like this that has much chance of helping a professional athlete.
In the middle of the 1974 season, John was cruising along with a 13-3 record as the Dodgers were en route to their first National League pennant in eight years, before he permanently damaged the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm, leading to a revolutionary surgical operation. This operation, now known as Tommy John surgery, replaced the ligament in the elbow of his pitching arm with a tendon from his right forearm. The surgery was performed by Dr. Frank Jobe on September 25, 1974, and although it seemed unlikely he would ever be able to pitch again, he spent the entire 1975 season in recovery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_John Someone has to be the first.
However, currently, Darius is selling his plasma to get by. Perhaps, he could become a guinea pig for this procedure in order to get a few more extra bucks.
They interviewed an orthopedic surgeon on Talking Ball one night and asked about surgery to replace Roy's meniscus. He said that it's done using cadaver tissue, but that there's a 2 year recovery period. He said that he didn't know if it would hold up for a pro athlete and he wouldn't recommend Roy have it done. But that's one guy's opinion. If I were Roy, I'd look into every option out there.
I believe you're thinking of JR Rider, Darius won't have blown through all of his money for a couple more years yet.
Growing Body Parts It is called regenerative medicine and the goal is to help the thousands waiting for organ transplants and the hundreds of veterans who return from Iraq and Afghanistan horribly maimed. So far, researchers have created beating hearts, ears and bladders by manipulating cells in the human body into regrowing tissue. The hope is to one day profoundly change human lives... "Currently at the institute we're working on over 22 different tissues and organs," Dr. Atala told 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer. According to Atala, they are working on regenerating bladders, kidneys, lungs and more. "The possibilities really are endless," he said... Atala presides over the world's largest lab devoted to bioengineering body parts. He has made everything from components of fingers to kidneys - it's enough to make Dr. Frankenstein jealous. Atala says every organ in our body contains special stem cells that are unique to each body part. The key to regeneration, he says, is to isolate and then multiply those cells until there are enough to cover a mold of that particular body part. Atala showed Safer a bladder that was growing in the lab. "And you can see here that we actually create the three dimensional mold first. This is actually coated with cells and it's done one layer at a time. It's very much like baking a layer cake." It's sort of surgery as pastry making. "But, how do those cells know - it's a really stupid question, I understand - but how do the bladder cells know they should be functioning as bladder cells?" Safer asked. "The cells know exactly what to do. Every single cell in your body has all the genetic information to create a whole new you. So if you place that cell in the right environment, it'll be programmed to do what it's supposed to do," Atala explained. He says some body parts are simpler to make than others. "And you can see here the mold shaped like an ear. And then what we do is we start seeding these with cells. And then this is actually the fully engineered ear," he said. "The molds are designed to degrade over time. So as the tissue forms the mold goes away." "If that was for a child, would that grow with the child?" Safer asked, looking at the mold. "Yes," Atala said. "The body does recognize them as their own and it does grow with the child." Depending on the body part, Atala says the whole process can take six to eight weeks. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/11/60minutes/main5968057.shtml "Brandon Roy, basketball player. A man whose knees are barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Brandon Roy will be that man. Better than he was before. Better...stronger...faster!" [video=youtube;HoLs0V8T5AA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA[/video]
Yes I have read a ton about Stem Cell therapy, because my Mom has Parkinsons/Dementia and we have been waiting to see if some miracle comes out of stem cell therapy for a long time now. Most of these treatments are probably a decade away, at least in this country. Other countries are ahead of us in stem cell therapy. Some of them are bogus, preying on desperate patients looking for cures. Some of them are legit, and have been treating specific conditions for quite a while. I think the chances of any of these treatments being available for Roy, are very very low. Because if they aren't willing to treat people with life threatening or life dehabilitating treatments with stem cells, why would they treat a guy with just a knee injury?
Because what Paul Allen and the Blazers could pay is a hell of a lot of money compared to most people. My only point is if Roy was going to look into something as radical as having the meniscus from a cadaver implanted in your knee why not look to see if you could have your own regenerated meniscus implanted instead.
I agree that could get something done. Money can work "miracles". Those miracles might even take place out of country. A meniscous would probably be much easier to grow than many of those organs. On a show the other day a Doctor showed off a custom grown bladder, and showed how they did it. It was a much more complex structure than a meniscous.
Michio Kaku in one of his radio shows last month said this next decade will revolutionize medicine. That we are a lot further to body part regeneration then most people realize. By 2025 life expectancy rate will jump to over 100yrs. Exciting times!
Maybe. Unless they conquer Dementia though, a high percentage of those people will be alive and but not have enough mental capacity to take care of themselves, which will create a medical funding nightmare.
