What does chondral loss mean?
A chondral defect refers to a focal area of damage to the articular cartilage (the cartilage that lines the end of the bones).
What is chondral loss in knee?
A patellar cartilage or chondral defect occurs when the articular cartilage that lines the patella become damaged. The damaged cartilage prevents the knee bones from sliding together smoothly.
What causes chondral loss?
Cartilage loss caused by a direct injury can result from blunt trauma to the joint. This can be from a severe car accident or even a very bad fall where the joint makes direct impact with the ground. If you’re an athlete, sporting injuries are also a cause of cartilage loss.
How is chondral loss treated?
Cell-based therapy is a promising approach using the patient’s own cells for the treatment of chondral defects. There are marrow stimulating procedures and autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI). Marrow stimulating procedures include abrasion arthroplasty, drilling, and microfracture.
How do they fix cartilage loss in the knee?
Cartilage damage is repaired using arthroscopic (or keyhole) surgery, which means minimal impact on healthy parts of your knee, less scarring and quicker recovery times. The cartilage may be removed, trimmed or smoothed down using special tools.
What happens if you lose cartilage in your knee?
Loss of cartilage within the knee joint can result in complications affecting the integrity of the knee joint surface due to increased pressure demands, which can lead to the development of bone spurs, subchondral bone sclerosis, and cysts and lesions.
Is the medial femoral condyle weight bearing?
The medial condyle is larger than the lateral (outer) condyle due to more weight bearing caused by the centre of mass being medial to the knee.
Is the medial femoral condyle a bone?
Bones of the Knee Joint The femoral condyles are the two rounded prominences at the end of the femur; they are called the medial and the lateral femoral condyle, respectively. The motions of the condyles include rocking, gliding and rotating.
How do you treat full thickness of cartilage loss?
In the case of global thinning of the cartilage such as seen with osteoarthritis, the treatment is typically conservative including rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medication, cortisone injection, and physical therapy or a home exercise program.
How big is the medial femoral condyle?
The mean medial condylar depth was 5.87 cm ± 0.41 cm (range, 5.12cm–6.60 cm). The relative values for the medial condylar depth in men were 6.11 cm ± 0.34 (range, 5.23 cm–6.60 cm) and in women were 5.59 cm ± 0.29 cm (range, 5.12 cm–6.01 cm) (P < 0.05).