Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery
Arthroscopic autogenous osteochondral transplantation for treating knee cartilage defects: A 2- to 5-year follow-up study
Section snippets
Study design
This study was initiated in March 1996 and the preliminary results have been previously reported.18 Thirty-three knees in 33 consecutive patients with an arthroscopically established diagnosis of a full-thickness cartilage defect of the femoral condyles were eligible for inclusion in the study and were all treated with arthroscopic AOT from March 1996 to June 1999 by the senior author (J.C.Y.C.).
The inclusion criteria were (1) full-thickness chondral and osteochondral defects demonstrated by
Results
Three of 33 patients (9.1%) were lost to follow-up and were excluded from the study. Thus, 30 patients (30 knees) with a minimum follow-up of 2 years constitute the subjects of this report.
There were 13 male and 17 female patients with a mean age of 44.6 years (range, 19 to 66 years). The age distribution of our patients was as follows: 19 to 34 years, 9 patients; 35 to 44 years, 5 patients; 45 to 54 years, 11 patients; and 55 to 66 years, 5 patients. The procedure was performed in 18 right
Discussion
Full-thickness chondral and osteochondral defects of the knee can cause numerous problems to the patient, such as pain, swelling, and locking, and may lead to early development of osteoarthritis. The goals of treatment are to alleviate pain and improve function, and furthermore to prevent or delay prosthetic replacement of the joint.
A cascade of alternative methods is available to treat chondral lesions but many limitations exist. Techniques for repair stimulation, such as abrasion arthroplasty,
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