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function and even regenerate cartilage. Are these advancements the future of knee repair? Meniscus implants Christopher Kaeding, MD, first heard about the possibilities of a plastic meniscus implant during a peer's presentation at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons conference a few years ago. "He said he was working with a group that was developing an implant that could offer some advantages, and asked 'Are you interested in working with us?'" he recalls. Since the conventional treatment of damaged or deteriorating carti- lage tended to involve either routinely icing of the knee (inexpensive and accessible, but not a long-term fix) or undergoing partial or total knee replacement surgery (as solutions go, a last resort), his answer was an enthusiastic yes. After reviewing the group's preliminary studies and visiting their lab for a training session on the implant's sizing and insertion, Dr. Kaeding, the executive director of sports medicine at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, led the nation's first FDA-approved, multi-center, randomized control trial for the NUsurface Meniscus Implant, manufactured by Active Implants. "The implant restores a lot of the function that native cartilage pro- vides," says Dr. Kaeding. "It makes the surface of the 2 bones, the femur and the tibia, more congruent. They match up better. When their contact area is larger, it spreads the load over a wider area, which dissipates the peak contact forces." The clinicians' hope is that this supplemental implant will decrease the persistent pain of a damaged or decaying meniscus, slow the devel- opment of arthritis, and postpone or prevent the need for knee replacement surgery. Evidence-based findings are still years away, but F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 4 7