Editorial Commentary: Autologous Minced Repair of Knee Cartilage Is Safely and Effectively Performed Using Arthroscopic Techniques

Abstract

Articular cartilage defects in the knee are common and possess a limited ability to inherently heal. Many of the surgical management options for cartilage repair that result in a hyaline or hyaline-like chondral surface have donor-site morbidity, are resource intensive, are costly, and may require multiple surgeries. Autologous minced cartilage implantation is an encouraging, single-stage technique that can be safely and efficiently performed arthroscopically to address focal chondral defects in the knee. The limited morbidity and cost-effective nature of using autograft tissue have clear advantages, including the ability to treat patients at the time a clinically relevant defect is identified, increased availability of tissue, reduced patient morbidity with the use of an arthroscopic harvest technique, and the production of a hyaline cartilage repair product with active chondrocytes. Clinically, it has been demonstrated to be superior to microfracture. However, the mincing technique may compromise cell viability. A recent porcine model investigation demonstrated that arthroscopic cartilage harvest using a shaver contains a significantly lower median number of viable chondrocytes compared with open scalpel harvest, resulting in reduced proteoglycans, glycosaminoglycans, aggrecan, and COL2A1 expression, a result of fewer viable chondrocytes. The authors suggest that traditional open-scalpel harvest results in a superior single-stage autologous minced cartilage transplantation product with more hyaline-like tissue compared with arthroscopic mincing techniques. However, the findings of the study regarding cell viability after arthroscopic harvest are in stark contrast to previous findings, including our previous work. Pending future research, it is our view that an arthroscopic single-stage autologous cartilage transplant is more reproducible, efficient, and of lower morbidity than open harvest, and we and others have shown the arthroscopic technique to be both safe and effective.