Prevalence of Chondral Lesions in Knee Arthroscopy

Abstract

Background: Chondral and osteochondral injuries of the knee joint are undervalued in subjects undergoing orthopedic surgery. Chondral lesions are difficult to diagnose as they do not present specific clinical signs. The objective of the study was to establish the prevalence of cartilage injuries in patients undergoing arthroscopy of the knee for knee pain or instability. Materials and methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 355 consecutive knee arthroscopies. Chondral lesions were found in 247 (69.6%) cases. Regarding their location, chondral lesions were more likely to be located on the medial femoral condyle (53.8%), while lesions on the lateral femoral condyle alone (0.8%) were the least frequent ones. Chondral injuries were frequently found with associated articular findings such as meniscal lesions (56.68%) and anterior cruciate ligament tears (2.84%) or both menisci and anterior cruciate ligament tear (15.38%). The ICRS grade II cartilage lesions were most frequently diagnosed (56.3%) while grade IV was the least frequent type (6.9%). Conclusions: Chondral damage is frequently diagnosed during knee arthroscopy, present in more than 50% of the arthroscopies performed for various indications, and an important part of cartilage injuries were linked with other intraarticular findings, such as anterior cruciate ligament tear and medial meniscus tear.

Treatment Costs of Matrix-Associated Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation Compared With Microfracture: Results of a Matched-Pair Claims Data Analysis on the Treatment of Cartilage Knee Defects in Germany

“…In years 4 and 5 after initial surgery, health care costs of MFX-treated patients were higher than those of MACItreated patients (year 4 3).…”

“…Articular cartilage defects in the knee are, among other reasons, caused by accidents such as torsion or by age-related degeneration. They lead to the restriction of mobility 4,9,28 and represent a socioeconomic challenge to society. 21,30 If these cartilage defects remain untreated, premature osteoarthritis might occur.…”

Matrix-Associated Chondrocyte Implantation Is Associated With Fewer Reoperations Than Microfracture: Results of a Population-Representative, Matched-Pair Claims Data Analysis for Cartilage Defects of the Knee

“…Articular cartilage defects in the knee are caused, among other reasons, by accidents such as twisting or age-related degeneration. 4,11,29 If these cartilage defects remain untreated, premature osteoarthritis can occur. 1,2,6,10,17,24 Surgical procedures such as microfracture (MFX) and matrix-associated chondrocyte implantation (M-ACI) are available to restore function, to relieve pain, and to reduce the probability of secondary osteoarthritis.…”

High-Density Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (HD-ACI) in patients with bilateral knee chondral defects

“…In our patients, the patella was the most frequent location of chondral injuries. In some patient series, medial femoral condyle is the main chondral lesion location (5,17), in contrast to patella which is the most frequent location in other series (18). In our experience, the medial femoral condyle is the most frequent location observed in unilateral knee cartilage lesions (12) but we do not have a clear explanation for their prevalence in the patella in bilateral defects.…”