The treatment of osteochondral lesions and osteoarthritis remains an ongoing clinical challenge in orthopaedics. This review examines the current research in the fields of cartilage regeneration, osteochondral defect treatment, and biological joint resurfacing, and reports on the results of clinical and pre-clinical studies. We also report on novel treatment strategies and discuss their potential promise or pitfalls. Current focus involves the use of a scaffold providing mechanical support with the addition of chondrocytes or mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), or the use of cell homing to differentiate the organism’s own endogenous cell sources into cartilage. This method is usually performed with scaffolds that have been coated with a chemotactic agent or with structures that support the sustained release of growth factors or other chondroinductive agents. We also discuss unique methods and designs for cell homing and scaffold production, and improvements in biological joint resurfacing. There have been a number of exciting new studies and techniques developed that aim to repair or restore osteochondral lesions and to treat larger defects or the entire articular surface. The concept of a biological total joint replacement appears to have much potential.Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2013;2:193–9.

There are two scaffold products designed for meniscal reconstruction or substitution of partial meniscal defects that are currently available in the Europe: the collagen meniscal implant (CMI; Ivy Sports Medicine, Gräfelfing, Germany) and the polymer scaffold (PS; Actifit, Orteq Bioengineering, London, United Kingdom). The CMI has demonstrated improved clinical outcomes compared with baseline in patients with chronic postmeniscectomy symptoms with follow-up ranging from 5 to more than 10 years. There are also several comparative studies that report improved clinical scores in patients with chronic medial meniscus symptoms treated with CMI versus repeat partial meniscectomy, and a lower reoperation rate. Recently, PS insertion was shown to result in improved clinical outcomes in patients with chronic postmeniscectomy symptoms of the medial or lateral meniscus at short-term follow-up. However, there is currently no medium- or long-term data available for the PS. The use of meniscal scaffolds in the acute setting has not been found to result in improved outcomes in most studies. The authors' surgical indications for meniscal scaffold implantation, preferred surgical technique, and postoperative rehabilitation protocol are described.

The aim of this study was to compare the need for blood transfusion and other outcomes when using patientspecific instrumentation (PSI) versus traditional instrumentation. 45 patients underwent TKA with either PSI (12 unilateral/9 bilateral) or traditional instrumentation (19 unilateral/5 bilateral) using the same final implants. Use of PSI demonstrated shorter operative/ tourniquet times, and shorter length of stay compared to traditional TKA, but no difference in the need for blood transfusion. Post-hoc subgroup analysis demonstrated that bilateral PSI replacement had a significantly decreased need for blood transfusion, shorter length of stay, and shorter operative/tourniquet times than bilateral replacement with traditional instrumentation. Use of PSI resulted in shorter length of stay and shorter operative/tourniquet times, with bilateral PSI also having a decreased need for blood transfusion.

No abstract