Chondroplastiki

The Chondroplastiki most modern interventional therapeutic trend today is the replacement of the injured piece or area of ​​articular cartilage with biological materials, which resemble its structural and mechanical properties as much as possible (Chondroplastiki).

The approach to the affected area is usually carried out atraumatically, through knee arthroscopy, that is, through small holes, from which, with the help of a special camera, all surgical procedures are performed.

The therapeutic approach includes all those methods of replacement and rehabilitation, taking into account criteria and parameters related to the patient’s level of activity, his age, as well as of course the degree and extent of the damage itself.

Ultimately, the ultimate goal is to achieve a normal, painless joint, capable of meeting both the demands of daily activity and reintegration into various sports activities.

Chondroplasty 

Nikolaos Zervakis

The main clinical sign and symptom, which leads the patient to the orthopaedic-arthroscope specialist, is the pain and the lameness of walking that accompanies it. Imaging tests include plain radiographs, computed tomography (which has greater sensitivity and accuracy in identifying bone structures-damages) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Magnetic resonance imaging has a special place in identifying the morphology of cartilage damage, as it has high specificity for diagnosing cartilage deficits and subsequent therapeutic strategies.

In his therapeutic quiver, the orthopedic arthroscope has four solutions for the restoration of these cartilage defects:

1. arthroscopic washing of the joint with cleaning of the degenerative elements.
2. repair through the endogenous factors of the joint, that is, through the activation of the regenerative abilities of the bone marrow cells (drilling, microfractures),
3. biological restoration using an autologous graft-implant by:

• plastic restoration through the “mosaic” technique or autologous osteochondral transplantation system
• autologous chondrocyte transplantation in 2 stages,

4. transplantation recent allograft (i.e. graft from another person).

Chondroplasty Nikolaos Zervakis