Jennifer Matthews: They take a pounding everyday and an injury can quickly sideline you.
Jordan Beckerman: It is real painful, because there were times where I could go to touch my knee and I'd feel a bone that I could move. I could actually push out of the away.
Jennifer Matthews: Surgeon Fred Cushner from Beth Israel in New York says, this injury known as Osteochondritis dissecans is common among adolescents.
Dr. Fred Cushner: He developed an injury to the bone below the cartilage, and as a result eventually the cartilage died. In the past, you didn't have a lot of options. You can take out the loose piece and the patient will feel better, but essentially leave them with a crater or a hole.
Jennifer Matthews: Now, he has a new surgical option for these patients. Here you can see the damaged area. Dr. Cushner removes it and then replaces it with fresh cartilage and bone donated from a cadaver.
Dr. Fred Cushner: As you can see this is a pretty big piece, you can see the bone --
Jennifer Matthews: This X-ray shows Jordan's knee before surgery. You can see the roughness -- and this is after.
Dr. Fred Cushner: The cartilage is nice and smooth. Everything looks as good as we had hoped for at this point.
Jennifer Matthews: Jordan was on crutches and in therapy for about three months.
Dr. Fred Cushner: They are resuming their normal activities and going back and doing their lifestyles that they'd like to, rather than being the professional patient go through a year, year-and-a-half physical therapy.
Jennifer Matthews: In the fourth month, he was back on the court.
Jordan Beckerman: The knee feels amazing, absolutely amazing.
Jennifer Matthews: Now he is making up for lost time.
This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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