Synovial Sealant Variant cost effective solution for Minced Cartilage Repair: Study

Cartilage defects are a common pathology in active people and affect quality of life. A common treatment option is treatment with minced cartilage (MC). As conservative therapy has a limited effect, surgical treatments vary in terms of procedure and results. A modified technique for autologous cartilage repair is presented by Philipp Ahrens et al.

The study has been published in ‘Indian Journal of Orthopaedics.’

MC was modified by adding a synovial sealant. This improves the stability of the graft, allowing the cartilage to proliferate. The synovial tissue has the potential to stimulate the implanted cartilage, which promotes healing and regeneration. The clinical and functional results of the modified technique were examined in a retrospective case series.

The key findings of the study were:

• The technique has proven to be reproducible for retropatellar cartilage defects and is both efficient and cost effective.

• MC with synovial sealing was performed in ten patients with retropatellar cartilage damage.

• In the conducted cases series, 10 patients were available for follow-up after 18±3 months.

• The group consisted of four women and six men with a mean age of 35±15 years (range 17–56 years) and BMI of 24±4 kg/m2.

• Eight of the 10 patients had no pain at rest at the follow up time point. The mean pain level in motion was 1.9±1.6 according to VAS.

• Patients showed good clinical results in terms of pain (VAS=1.9, KOOS Pain=89.7), symptoms (KOOS Symptoms=83.6), and daily activity (KOOS Activity=96.6).

• No major complication was observed and revision surgery was not needed in this case series. Two patients experienced joint effusion postoperatively, while two others complained of an initial extension deficit. Treatment was successful with conservative treatment in these cases.

The authors concluded that – “The procedure combines the advantages of autologous cartilage repair with a one-stage surgical approach. It utilizes the regenerative potential of synovial tissue while providing improved mechanical stability. This technique offers a cost-effective, autologous solution for full-thickness cartilage defects, and shows promising clinical results in the medium term.”

Further reading:

The Synovial Sealant Variant for Minced Cartilage Repair: A Technical Note and Retrospective Study Philipp Ahrens et al Indian Journal of Orthopaedics https://doi.org/10.1007/s43465-024-01174-8