SCANS have confirmed that Melbourne defender Christian Salem has avoided major ligament damage to his knee.

Salem was substituted out of the Demons' Round 1 clash against the Western Bulldogs on Wednesday night following a tackle with Marcus Bontempelli in the opening term.

GM Football Performance Alan Richardson provided an update on Friday morning, after the defender underwent further assessment.

“Thankfully, Christian did not sustain a ligament injury on Wednesday night and has instead chipped cartilage in his knee,” Richardson told Melbourne Media.

“He will undergo surgery today to clean up the damage to his cartilage and following the procedure, will commence rehab with our medical team.

“At the moment we don’t have a specific timeframe for when Christian will return, but we will know more post-op.”