title: A Registry for Evaluation of Efficiency and Safety of Surgical Treatment of Cartilage Defects: The German Cartilage Registry (KnorpelRegister DGOU).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The need for documentation in cartilage defects is as obvious as in other medical specialties. Cartilage defects can cause significant pain, and lead to reduced quality of life and loss of function of the affected joint. The risk of developing osteoarthritis is high. Therefore, the socioeconomic burden of cartilage defects should not be underestimated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of our study was to implement and maintain a registry of all patients undergoing surgical treatment of cartilage defects.
  
  
  METHODS
  We designed this multicenter registry for adults whose cartilage defects of a knee, ankle, or hip joint are treated surgically. The registry consists of two parts: one for the physician and one for the patient. Data for both parts will be gathered at baseline and at 6-, 12-, 24-, 36-, 60-, and 120-month follow-ups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To date, a wide range of German, Swiss, and Austrian trial sites are taking part in the German Cartilage Registry, soon to be followed by further sites. More than 2124 (as of January 31, 2016) cases are already documented and the first publications have been released.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The German Cartilage Registry addresses fundamental issues regarding the current medical care situation of patients with cartilage defects of knee, ankle, and hip joints. In addition, the registry will help to identify various procedure-specific complications, along with putative advantages and disadvantages of different chondrocyte products. It provides an expanding large-scale, unselected, standardized database for cost and care research for further retrospective studies.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00005617; https://drks-neu.uniklinik-freiburg.de/ drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00005617 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6hbFqSws0).
authors.affiliation: Clinical Trials Unit, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. julia.maurer@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7675-6101
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7517-1184
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Grotejohann
authors.forename: Carolin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8478-0045
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jenkner
authors.forename: Carla
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5264-6944
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6698-3941
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Flury
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5392-4125
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tassoni
authors.forename: Peter
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3190-8666
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Angele
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0554-3819
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fritz
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6759-0488
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8433-0872
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Niemeyer
keywords: ankle joint; cartilage defect; chondral defect; hip joint; knee joint; patient registry