[The microfracture technique in the treatment of full-thickness chondral lesions of the knee].
OBJECTIVE
Chondral lesions of the knee joint present a difficult challenge because of their poor potential for spontaneous healing. In this study, we evaluated the results of the microfracture technique in the treatment of full-thickness chondral lesions.


METHODS
The study included 20 patients (12 males, 8 females; mean age 44 years; range 18 to 60 years) who were treated with the microfracture technique for 22 lesions of osteoarthritis or traumatic chondral injuries. The patients were evaluated at the end of a mean follow-up period of 3.8 years with a visual analog scale and Lysholm II scores. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for statistical analysis.


RESULTS
The size of the chondral lesions varied between 0.5 to 2.25 cm2. Most of the lesions were in the medial femoral condyle (n=11), followed by the medial femoral condyle and trochlear groove (n=4), the lower aspect of the patella (n=3), trochlear groove (n=3), and the lateral femoral condyle (n=1). The mean visual analog scale score was 69.5 (range 20 to 100) preoperatively and 11 (range 0 to 60) postoperatively (p<0.001). The mean Lysholm II score increased from a preoperative 73.7 (range 49 to 90) to a postoperative 86.1 (range 51 to 100) (p=0.017).


CONCLUSIONS
The microfracture technique is a method that relieves the symptoms, and results in considerable improvement in the function and activity of the patients with full-thickness chondral lesions. The advantages of this arthroscopic treatment method are cost-effectiveness and low morbidity rate.
Alparslan
Bülent
B
Adnan Menderes Universitesi Tip Fakültesi Ortopedi ve Travmatoloji Anabilim Dali, Aydin, Turkey. balparslan@adu.edu.tr
Ozkan
Ilhan
I
Acar
Ulaş
U
Cullu
Emre
E
Savk
S Oner
SO
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054544:Arthroplasty, Subchondral / Q000191:economics; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D010149:Postoperative Pain; D020127:Recovery of Function; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome