Important Safety Information
Pre-existing conditions, including meniscal tears, joint instability, or malalignment should be assessed and treated prior to or concurrent with CARTICEL implantation. The occurrence of subsequent surgical procedures (SSPs), primarily arthroscopy, following CARTICEL implantation is common....View More Carticel (autologous cultured chondrocytes)

Important Safety Information Prescribing Information

Take action. Choose CARTICEL

If your patient's previous anthroscopic or surgical cartilage repair procedure failed to provide adequate pain relief, CARTICEL may be the solution.

The ability to regenerate hyaline-like cartilage.

Is your patient right for Carticel?: There are many factors to consider when choosing an articular cartilage repair option.; Learn more

For Surgeons

Watch Jack Farr, MD, Medical Director of the Cartilage Restoration Center of Indiana present:

CARTICEL Surgical Technique

Contact Carticel Care: CARTICEL is covered by most health care plans. Carticel Care® Coordinators can help you facilitate the reimbursement process.; Learn more

Learn About the Procedure: The CARTICEL implantation procedure involves three distinct phases: biopsy, implantation and rehabilitation.; Learn more

Indication

Carticel® (autologous cultured chondrocytes) is an autologous cellular product indicated for the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects of the femoral condyle (medial, lateral or trochlea), caused by acute or repetitive trauma, in patients who have had an inadequate response to a prior arthroscopic or other surgical repair procedure (e.g., debridement, microfracture, drilling/abrasion arthroplasty, or osteochondral allograft/autograft).

CARTICEL should only be used in conjunction with debridement, placement of a periosteal flap and rehabilitation. The independent contributions of the autologous cultured chondrocytes and other components of the therapy to outcome are unknown.

CARTICEL is not indicated for the treatment of cartilage damage associated with generalized osteoarthritis.

CARTICEL is not recommended for patients with total meniscectomy unless surgically reconstructed prior to or concurrent with CARTICEL implantation.

Important Safety Information

CARTICEL should not be used in patients with a known history of hypersensitivity to gentamicin, other aminoglycosides or materials of bovine origin.

It should not be used in patients who have previously had cancer in the bones, cartilage, fat or muscle of the treated limb.

Pre-existing conditions, including meniscal tears, joint instability, or malalignment should be assessed and treated prior to or concurrent with CARTICEL implantation.

CARTICEL is not routinely tested for transmissible infectious diseases and may transmit disease to the healthcare provider handling CARTICEL.

Use of CARTICEL in children, patients over age 65, or in joints other than the knee has not yet been assessed.

The occurrence of subsequent surgical procedures (SSPs), primarily arthroscopy, following CARTICEL implantation is common. In the Study of the Treatment of Articular Repair (STAR), forty-nine percent (49%) of patients underwent an SSP on the treated knee, irrespective of their relationship to CARTICEL, during the 4-year follow up. The most common serious adverse events (≥5% of patients), derived from STAR, include arthrofibrosis/joint adhesions, graft overgrowth, chondromalacia or chondrosis, cartilage injury, graft complication, meniscal lesion, graft delamination, and osteoarthritis.

For more information on CARTICEL, please see the Package Insert (PDF).

Genzyme Biosurgery