Abstract
Purpose
The prevalence of focal chondral lesions reported inthe literature during knee arhroscopy can be as high as 63%. Of these, more than half are either grade III or grade IV lesions (Outerbridge). Full thickness cartilage lesions ranging from 2cm2 to 10cm2 are the most challenging to treat. To goal of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes of pain, function and quality of life, along with radiological outcomes of cartilage repair using microfracture, autologous minced cartilage and polymeric scaffold.
Method
A cohort of thirty-eight patients with Outerbridge grade III or IV cartilage injuries larger than 2cm2 in the knee's femoral condyle, trochlea or patella were prospectively folowed since 2008. They were all treated with microfracture, fresh minced autologous cartilage grafting and a polymeric scaffold technique through mini-arthrotomy of the knee. Autografts and scaffolds were secured to subchondral bone using fibrin glue and tran-sosseous resorbable sutures. Patients were evaluated pre and postoperatively using VAS scores for pain, WOMAC and IKDC scores for knee function and SF-36 questionnaire for quality of life. Clinical evaluations were done by physical examination, and imaging was done using X-Rays, MRI and arthro-CT
Results
Mean follow-up time was14.64.6 months. Mean age was 48.39.3 years old. Pre-op lesions averaged 3.51.5 cm2. VAS pain scores were significantly reduced after surgery (7,62 to 2,52.3, p<. 0001). Improvement in knee function using IKDC score improved from 26,717.5 to 55,415.3, p<. 001). In addition, WOMAC total scores showed significant reduction from 55,520.3 to 27,517.6. SF-36 quality of life Physical Component Summary improved from 26,411.4 to 45,812.3, p<. 01; Mental Component Summary improved from 41,916.8 to 49,411.2, p<. 048). Imaging results indicate sustained cartilage thickness from 6 to 18 months. One patient was an early failure due to scaffold loosening, and two patients had no clinical improvement and no significant cartilage regeneration on MRI and Arthro-CT imaging at 6 months post-op.
Conclusion
The combination of microfractures, fresh minced autologous cartilage grafting and polymeric scaffold fixation seems to be an effective treatment option for post-traumatic and focal cartilage lesions of the knee in the short term. A longer-term follow-up to evaluate the sustainability of these results is ongoing. Shortcomings of this study are its short term, the lack of second look arthroscopies and cartilage biopsies to evaluate cartilage microstructure, and the absence of a gold standard treatment for full-thickness cartilage lesions larger than 2cm2 that could be used as a control.
