Principles of Cartilage Repair

Cartilage defects affect patients of various age groups. Surgeons, teamdoctors, general practitioners and physiotherapists alike are expected to provide adequate care. This title describes background knowledge, operative and non-operative therapies in chapters: Articular cartilage biology; Diagnostics; Surgical techniques; and, Physiotherapy.

Cartilage defects affect patients of all age groups. Surgeons, teamdoctors, general practitioners and physiotherapists alike are expected to provide adequate care. Only individual treatment plans combining a well balanced choice of various options will be successful. Background knowledge, operative and non-operative therapies are described in concise chapters: Articular cartilage biology - Diagnostics - Surgical techniques - Symptomatic and alternative medications - Physiotherapy. Diagnostic findings and surgical procedures are generously illustrated by aquarelles and colour photographs. Recommendations for additional reading, description of important clinical scoring systems and a listing of analytic tools are added for further information.

Articular Cartilage Biology: Chondrocytes
Collagen
Proteoglycans
The subchondral bone.- Etiology of Articular Cartilage Lesions: Trauma
Malalignments
Meniscus
Instability
Osteochondrosis dissecans (OD)
Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Genetic factors
Obesity
Cartilage tumors
Microtrauma.- Diagnostics: Clinical examination
Radiography
Magnetic resonance tomography
Classification of articular cartilage lesions and criteria for choosing appropriate therapy.- Conservative Treatment of Articular Cartilage Defects: Drug treatment
Physical therapy.- Operative Treatment of Articular Cartilage Defects: Refixation of detached cartilage fragments
Joint lavage/cartilage shaving/debridement
Bone marrow stimulation techniques (drilling, abrasion, microfracture)
Augmented microfracture techniques
Osteochondral transplantation
Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT)
ACT -- New procedures
Correctional osteotomies
Implantation of non-resorbable cartilage replacements.- Important Analytic Methods.