Introduction and purpose: The purpose of this study was to obtain environmental scanning electron microscope images of the joint surface of fresh osteochondral grafts cryopreserved in RPMI and modified Krebs-Henseleit medium (K-H) and evaluate and compare them using a validated classification system.

Materials and methods: We extracted the femoral condyles from 6-month-old female New Zealand rabbits weighing 3.5 kg and cryopreserved them using two methods (RPMI and K-H). After thawing the samples we took 20 photographs of each one (total of 100 images per group, 3 study groups) using an environmental scanning electron microscope.

Results: We assessed and compared each of the study parameters using the Chi-Square test:

- smooth surface, protuberances and peaks

Conclusions: On the basis of morphological studies, we can conclude that the K-H method provides a higher degree of chondrocyte viability than other cryopreservation methods in use up to the present.