Procedure of chondroplasty
The procedure refers to simple surgical techniques whereby a fibrillated (ragged) and damaged joint surface is cut, scraped, lasered, radio-frequencied or burred away in the hope that the healthy joint surface will heal over the defect. Joint cartilage, however, is problematic in that it heals poorly once it is damaged and the new surface may not true hyaline or joint cartilage, but a rather inferior version called 'fibrocartilage'. So the technique is generally reserved for smaller defects and there are newer techniques for the larger areas that try to heal the defect with stronger, more normal joint cartilage.
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