Management of focal cartilage lesions in the knee through mosaicplasty : A case series of 13 patients

Focal cartilage lesions of the knee are rare and can be primary (osteochondritis dissecans) or secondary (traumatic) [1, 2]. Their diagnosis relies on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and arthroscopy, which help determine the extent of the lesions, their locations, and whether they are stable or unstable [3]. Surgical treatment is reserved for painful lesions located in weight-bearing areas. Surgical therapeutic modalities can either be palliative, such as Pridie drilling and micro fractures aimed at promoting the formation of fibrocartilaginous scar tissue which has biomechanical properties inferior to those of hyaline cartilage, or reparative treatments like mosaicplasty. Mosaicplasty involves harvesting osteochondral grafts from a donor site and implanting them into osteochondral defect areas, resulting in hyaline cartilage tissue of superior quality [2, 4].