A pothole can form in your knee in no time at all and that's exactly what happened to experienced marathon runner, Kevin Kaspzyk.

"When I would try running on it, I would get a sharp needle-like pain," he said.

That pain was felt with Kaspzyk's every step, and it's a lot of steps. He runs 80 miles a week!

"A lot of people are like, I can't imagine driving that long, let alone running it!" he exclaimed.

But the wear and tear took its toll.

"Think of a pothole in your cartilage as a pothole in a road. If you keep driving over the pothole, or using your knee, the pothole will get bigger bigger, bigger, bigger, and that means the pothole has progressed onto osteoarthritis," said Joseph Guettler, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon.

Orthopedic surgeon Joseph Guettler used transplanted cartilage to repair Kevin's knee. Cartilage cells are harvested from an area on the knee that's not hurt and sent to a lab where they are grown for six weeks.

"Believe it or not, they can grow something that's pretty darn close to real hyaline, articular cartilage," said Joseph Guettler, M.D.

The cells are then injected back into the knee under a patch that covers the "pothole."

"We're taking cartilage cells, and instead of sending them off to a lab, we're simply mincing them at the time of the procedure. They're sprinkled on a biological scaffold and implanted into the knee, all in one setting," said Dr. Guettler.

The surgery is quick, but full recovery can take a year. Kevin has his running shoes back on and is planning his 40th marathon.

"I'll be running Boston next year, and whether I get under three hours or not, I'm still able to do it," said Kaspzyk.

And he'll do it without any pain.

For more information: Ivanhoe Broadcast News2745 W. Fairbanks Ave.Winter Park, FL 32789http://www.ivanhoe.com Melissa Medalie, Supervising Producer Medical Newsmmedalie@ivanhoe.comDirect Line: (407) 691-1516Viewer Line: (407) 740-0789 ext. 579