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Paulina's Story

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Paulina is no wallflower. So when knee pain stopped her from dancing, she decided to get back in step with CARTICEL.

Paulina had a CARTICEL Procedure to repair cartilage damage in her knee. We asked Paulina to share what motivated her to take the next step in getting back her active lifestyle.

Q: What were your hobbies before your knee injury?

A: I loved to dance. I also ran in races and enjoyed other social activities like hiking and skiing.

Q: When and how did you get injured?

A: About six years ago I started to feel pain in the same area I’d been treated for osteochondritis dissecans as a child. My doctor said all the activity that I'd been doing was putting extra under-pressure on the medial condyle.

Q: What was the deciding factor for you to have a CARTICEL procedure?

A: My husband and I went dancing and they were playing a Merengue song; it's the only one he can dance to. But I couldn't dance because of the pain in my knee. That night I had to sit out and watch everybody else and that made me miserable. It wasn't acceptable to me and I knew things would only get worse.

Q: Did you use Carticel Care®?

A: I received an information package from Carticel Care after my biopsy was taken. It was nice to know there was a group of people who were dedicated to helping me through the entire process. That was very reassuring.

Q: How did you prepare for your immediate post-surgery recovery?

A: The first thing I did was teach my husband how to cook so that he could help out. I also talked with my nurse so that I knew what to expect after my surgery, and what I needed to do for my rehab. My home is three stories, with the living room on the first and my bedroom on the second. I thought I’d just camp out in the living room since there’s no TV in the bedroom. But I didn’t like it, and started going up the stairs with my crutches. It was difficult when I had to carry things, but it wasn’t too bad.

Q: What was the single biggest improvement in your lifestyle since your surgery?

A: My dancing. Not only am I back on the dance floor but I’m now a competitive ballroom dancer.

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you could give someone trying to decide if CARTICEL is right for them?

A: I would say think about what’s important to you in the long run. For me, the recovery time was nothing compared to the rest of my life.

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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).

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