What causes an osteochondral defect?
Deep craters involving both the cartilage and the bone may be a result of impact or a condition such as osteochondritis dissecans where blood supply fails to an area of bone, and the bone and cartilage die.
What happens to an OCD without surgical intervention?
The defect is likely to cause pain and altered mobility, but the real issue is that without closing the defect it is likely to extend and lead eventually to arthritis.
"....Osteochondral defects of the knee significantly alter the biomechanics of the joint. This can cause symptomatic and functional impairment as well as considerable risk of progressive joint degeneration...."
Options for cartilage repair of an osteochondral defect
There are a number of possible cartilage repair procedures for attempting to fill the defect back to a congruent cartilage surface.
The big number suggests that none are in fact perfect! Possible interventions include:
"....the re-operation, re-intervention and adverse event rates were similar for all procedures. However, microfracture demonstrated the worst patient-reported outcomes, with particular emphasis placed on the poor long-term results of this operation...."
Other relevant links on KNEEguru
A-Z Keywords -
Forum discussions
- Patellar osteochondral allograft - Options for articular cartilage repair
Flowchart -
Dr Sheila Strover - 2018 - Arthritis Flowchart
Primer -
Dr Sheila Strover - 2016 - Osteoarthritis Management Options
eBook -
Dr Sheila Strover - Knee arthritis interventions when you are too young for a total knee replacement