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Current Treatments of Isolated Articular Cartilage Lesions of the Knee Achieve Similar Outcomes

  • Clinical Research
  • Published:
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®

Abstract

Background

Many surgical techniques, including microfracture, periosteal and perichondral grafts, chondrocyte transplantation, and osteochondral grafts, have been studied in an attempt to restore damaged articular cartilage. However, there is no consensus regarding the best method to repair isolated articular cartilage defects of the knee.

Questions/purposes

We compared postoperative functional outcomes, followup MRI appearance, and arthroscopic examination after microfracture (MF), osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT), or autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI).

Methods

We prospectively investigated 30 knees with MF, 22 with OAT, and 18 with ACI. Minimum followup was 3 years (mean, 5 years; range, 3–10 years). We included only patients with isolated cartilage defects and without other knee injuries. The three procedures were compared in terms of function using the Lysholm knee evaluation scale, Tegner activity scale, and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score; modified Outerbridge cartilage grades using MRI; and International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) repair grade using arthroscopy.

Results

All three procedures showed improvement in functional scores. There were no differences in functional scores and postoperative MRI grades among the groups. Arthroscopy at 1 year showed excellent or good results in 80% after MF, 82% after OAT, and 80% after ACI. Our study did not show a clear benefit of either ACI or OAT over MF.

Conclusions

Owing to a lack of superiority of any one treatment, we believe MF is a reasonable option as a first-line therapy given its ease and affordability relative to ACI or OAT.

Level of Evidence

Level II, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korea University Medical Center, Guro Hospital, 80 Guro-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, 152-703, South Korea

    Hong-Chul Lim MD, PhD, Ji-Hoon Bae MD, Sang-Heon Song MD, Young-Eun Park MD & Seung-Ju Kim MD

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  1. Hong-Chul Lim MD, PhD
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  2. Ji-Hoon Bae MD
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Correspondence to Seung-Ju Kim MD.

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Each author certifies that he or she, or a member of their immediate family, has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

All ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms for authors and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research editors and board members are on file with the publication and can be viewed on request.

Each author certifies that his or her institution approved the human protocol for this investigation, that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research, and that informed consent for participation in the study was obtained.

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Lim, HC., Bae, JH., Song, SH. et al. Current Treatments of Isolated Articular Cartilage Lesions of the Knee Achieve Similar Outcomes. Clin Orthop Relat Res 470, 2261–2267 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-012-2304-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-012-2304-9

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