Osteochondral and chondral knee injuries

Question 1

what causes osteochondral or chondral knee injuries

Answer 1

impaction or shear of the articular surface or due to a direct blow

Question 2

what investigations are used for suspected osteochondral or chondral knee injury

Answer 2

Xray, MRI or arthroscopy

Question 3

what types of osteochondral injury are treated with fixed pins

Answer 3

acute injuries involving the large osteochondral fragments with substantial proportion of bone

Question 4

when is removal by arthroscopy the treatment of choice

Answer 4

if in non-weight bearing area and there is little bone attached

Question 5

describe the treatment process of microfracture

Answer 5

if defect has bare bone at its base can be drilled into or holes made to induce bleeding, to promote fibrocartilage formation from stem cells differentiating into chondroblasts

Question 6

describe the treatment process of moasaicplasty

Answer 6

osteochondral plugs from non-weight bearing areas are plugged into the defect

Question 7

what can the defect on the surface of the knee in osteochondral or chondral injury fill with

Answer 7

can fill with fibrocartilage, which is not as good as hyaline but still performs reasonable job

Question 8

describe what osteochondritis dissecans is

Answer 8

when an area of the surface of the knee loses its blood supply and cartilage +/- bone can fragment off
(can be asymptomatic)

Question 9

what group of people is osteochondritis dissecans most common in

Answer 9

adolescents