Articular cartilage repair is the improvement of defects of the joint cartilage, either by surgery or biological intervention.
Page updated November 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)
Microfracture - a marrow stimulation technique, where holes are picked through the cartilage base plate, to allow blood and cells to track through into the defect.
In ACI - a cell-based therapy - cartilage cells are multiplied in the laboratory and injected into the defect behind a membrane.
Cartilage repair is part of regenerative medicine
There is a lot of focus currently on regenerative techniques for restoring damaged joint cartilage. Procedures include microfracture, nanofracture, ACI, mosaicplasty, MACI, AMIC, NAMIC, stem cell injections and microfragmented fat injections.
Quick links
Forum discussions
- "Sam's ACI"
An ACI patient's diary.
Peer-reviewed papers
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Quote:
"Cartilage injuries can occur due to acute trauma or repetitive microtrauma....and this increases dramatically to 10–20 times of bodyweight during sports activities...Most early stage cartilage lesions do not cause a lot of symptoms and disability. However, in later stages, patients present with pain, swelling and mechanical symptoms like locking, catching and crepitus."
Citation: Solanki K, Shanmugasundaram S, Shetty N, Kim SJ. Articular cartilage repair & joint preservation: A review of the current status of biological approach. J Clin Orthop Trauma. 2021 Sep 21;22:101602. doi: 10.1016/j.jcot.2021.101602. PMID: 34631411; PMCID: PMC8488240.
- Microfracture
- Nanofracture
- Debridement
- Abrasion arthroplasty
- Marrow stimulation
- Osteochondral graft
- OATS
- Mosaicplasty
- Osteochondral allograft
Other relevant material -
- Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI)
- Matrix-induced Autologous Chondrocyte Implant (MACI)
- Orthobiologic
- Cartilage autograft implantation system (CAIS)
- Autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis (AMIC)
- Nanofracture Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis (NAMIC)