Raleigh Orthopaedic is excited to announce that Dr. Joseph Barker, a Raleigh Orthopaedic sports medicine physician, was recently published in the Washington Post for his work treating a patient with cartilage restoration. Dr. Barker’s ‘cutting edge’ treatment allowed his patient to avoid having knee replacement surgery.
What is cartilage restoration?
Over 2 million people in the United States suffer with some type of cartilage problem annually. The cause may be an obvious injury or it may develop gradually without trauma, which can lead to pain and swelling that can make maintaining an active lifestyle difficult.
Cartilage regeneration is an innovative procedure used to replace damaged or worn cartilage within the knee. This minimally invasive procedure involves removing healthy cartilage cells from the damaged knee, culturing the cells in a lab for a number of weeks and then the new cells are injected into the damaged joint for regeneration with the surrounding cartilage.
“The beauty of this procedure – why it is so great and cutting edge – is that you can restore an area that has no cartilage left by putting in a patient’s own normal cells,” said Dr. Barker. “When it’s all done, it’s a completely normal knee.”
The story was published this past weekend in the Washington Post.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY
About Joseph U. Barker, MD
Dr. Barker is a fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeon in Sports Medicine. His areas of expertise include sports medicine, shoulder, hip and knee arthroscopy, and cartilage restoration. Prior to joining Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic in August 2010, he received his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine, where he was awarded a Howard Hughes Fellowship for his orthopaedic research. He completed his internship and residency at Cornell University/Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, and then was selected for a Sports Medicine Fellowship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. For further details on Dr. Barker, please visit: www.josephbarkermd.com.
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Your well-being is important to us. Raleigh Orthopaedic is Wake County’s oldest and most experienced orthopedic practice, serving the Triangle and surrounding regions of central North Carolina since 1919. Raleigh Orthopaedic offers online scheduling so click the button below or call us at (919) 781-5600 to schedule an appointment with one of our orthopedic specialists. If your injury or condition is recent, you can walk right into one of our Raleigh Orthopaedic Urgent Care locations for immediate care. For rehabilitation and physical therapy, no referral is needed to see one of our physical therapists.