Cartilage repair system with flexible trephine

A method of repairing cartilage in a patient comprising:

• forming an incision in the patient;
• inserting a deformable trephine having a longitudinal axis through the incision into the patient;
• removing a cartilage plug from a donor site of the patient with the longitudinal axis of the trephine being substantially straight and substantially normal to the donor site;
• removably inserting the trephine into a rigid cannula, the cannula having a nonlinear longitudinal central axis having a first portion with a first curvature and a second portion with a second curvature different from the first curvature;
• advancing the trephine along the rigid cannula, the rigid cannula deforming the longitudinal axis of the trephine to corresponding first and second curvatures as the trephine advances within the rigid cannula;
• guiding the trephine with the rigid cannula to direct a distal portion of the longitudinal axis of the trephine to be substantially normal to a defect site in the joint of the patient;
• inserting a flexible ejector tool into the trephine and advancing the ejector tool along the longitudinal axis to eject the cartilage plug toward the defect site;
• and
• attaching the cartilage plug to the defect site.

A method of repairing cartilage in a patient comprising:

• forming an incision in the patient;
• guiding a deformable trephine to a donor site in a joint of the patient, the trephine having a proximal end, a distal end and a longitudinal axis;
• removing a cartilage plug from the donor site using the distal end of the trephine and with the longitudinal axis of the trephine at a first curvature;
• removably coupling a distal coupling portion of a guide tool to the distal end of the trephine, the coupling portion being C-shaped and resilient;
• applying a load to an elongate handle of the guide tool, the elongate handle extending from the coupling portion, to deform the longitudinal axis of the trephine to a second curvature different from the first curvature to direct the cartilage plug to a defect site in the joint of the patient;
• inserting a flexible ejector tool into the trephine and advancing the ejector tool along the longitudinal axis to eject the cartilage plug toward the defect site;
• and
• affixing the cartilage plug to the defect site.