Cell therapy, biomaterials and other options may enhance cartilage repair

There are several articular cartilage repair techniques being used, including microfracture, autologous chondrocyte implantation and mosaicplasty, and orthopaedic surgeons have found they offer some improvement for patients, overall. The physicians who spoke with Orthopaedics Today Europe discussed indications for the major techniques currently used worldwide and noted that results of each approach are somewhat mixed. From their comments it seems that orthopaedic clinicians and researchers are divided over which cartilage repair approaches are optimal and whether developments being worked on now will deliver on the promise of improved outcomes in the future.