Knee cartilage wounds
Joint cartilage is one of the important structures for us to move painlessly.
When cartilage is mentioned in the knee joint, do not immediately think of it as meniscus. Cartilage is a white hard and slippery layer that covers the bone at the ends of the upper bone and the underlying bone. Meniscus, on the other hand, are the structures in between that allow these two surfaces to adapt.
As we move and walk, there's an abrasion on the cartilage surfaces. These normal and (very small) abrasions due to daily activity in our body are repaired thanks to our repair mechanisms. This cycle of wear and repair lasts in our bodies without us not not noting. When the repair starts to fall behind the wear, the problems begin and we begin to realize the situation.
In parts of the knee joint near the surface that have to rub, the cell is small, there is no blood circulation. There is also no blood in the knee joint cavity. Instead, there is a very small amount of special joint fluid. This joint fluid provides slipperiness as well as feeding cartilage cells. We can make our cartilage look like a very hard sponge. When we load it into the cartilage, i.e. when we squeeze the cartilage, the liquid in it goes out, and when the load is lifted over it, it pulls liquid into it. That's how we can simply imagine cartilage feeding. If we were not going to put any weight on our cartilage, we would soon see it melt away, as it is understood that bone and cartilage have melted away in gravitational environments on space travel, so special exercise instruments have had to be developed. The most common problem is the joint knee joint, which is seen with cartilage injury.
The reasons for opening a wound on our joint cartilage are:
• Trauma-fall, impact, kneecap exits, high-energy accidents
• Distorted joint shape (sequence disorders)
• Removed meniscus in the knee joint
• Joint shifts
• Osteochondritis differential disease
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Genetic factors
• Obesity
• Cartilage tumors
• Microtravma
We classitule cartilage wounds according to their size and depth, know which treatments to choose according to this class, and come up with a suitable treatment plan. The most troubling part of cartilage problems is that the healing rates of these structures are low. When choosing the treatment, we determine the treatment method in which we can get the best response for a recovery period that will take as short as possible and we apply it in no time.
Degrees of cartilage wounds
0: Normal cartilage structure
1: cartilage is soft, slightly changed color, joint is good
2: Superficial cracks are available,
3: cracks extend into deep layers, cartilage thickness decreased
4: The cartilage is worn to the bone and the bone is revealed.
Treatment of cartilage wounds
1. Medical treatment
• Glucosamine, Collagen tablets
• Hyaluronic acid injections
• Physical therapy
2. Surgery
• Fixing the cartilage part in place
• Surgeries for cartilage repair
• Debridman,
• Microcrack,
• Abrasion arthroplasty
• Cartilage restoration surgeries
• Fresh cartilage transplants
• Transplant-mosaicplasty- from the patient's own cartilage
• ACI/MACI self-obtained cartilage cell culture transplants
Cartilage tissue injuries are injuries that can be treated when noticed early. As the size and depth of cartilage loss increases, it may become impossible to treat the problem and eventually require knee replacement.