What are the treatment alternatives for articular cartilage defects?
“Surgery is not the only option for articular cartilage defects and in addition to addressing the possible causes, optimising the musculature around the knee can be helpful. Some modifications of activities or technique as well as (in the non-sporting population) weight loss. Anti- inflammatory drugs in short courses can be helpful and I think there is quite good evidence that the symptoms from low grade articular cartilage problems can be helped by dietary supplements such as Glucosamine. Intra articular injections of steroid are being used much less often, but the rather more expensive visco-supplementation injections are becoming more popular. “From the surgical point of view there are three groups of treatments which we can offer to restore the articular surface. These are the micro fracture technique which Dr Richard Steadman has pioneered. Osteochondral grafting (“mosaicplasty”) which involves taking a section of articular surface from elsewhere in the knee or from a cadaveric (d
