ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2014
Trends in the surgical treatment of articular cartilage defects of the knee in the United States.
Article in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Enhanced microfracture using acellular scaffolds improves results after treatment of symptomatic focal grade III/IV knee cartilage lesions but current clinical evidence does not allow unequivocal recommendation.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2020Pooled it
- Microfracture for cartilage repair in the knee: a systematic review of the contemporary literature.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2020Pooled it
- Global Variation in Studies of Articular Cartilage Procedures of the Knee: A Systematic Review.CartilagePooled it
- Patient Outcomes After Observation Versus Debridement of Unstable Chondral Lesions During Partial Meniscectomy: The Chondral Lesions And Meniscus Procedures (ChAMP) Randomized Controlled Trial.The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume · 2017Trial
- Combined cartilage thickness and mechanical property mismatch drives local strain amplification at the patellar osteochondral allograft interface.Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology · 2026Article
- Comparative effectiveness of osteochondral restoration, cell-based regeneration and cell-free implants for knee chondral defects: a systematic review.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2026Article
- The Effect of Multipoint Injection Strategies of BMSCs on Repairing Cartilage Defects of the Knee Joint.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2026Article
- #Cartilage: TikTok Videos on Cartilage Surgery Demonstrate Low Quality and Limited Educational Value.Cartilage · 2025Article
- Osteochondral solutions for cartilage lesions of the knee: a narrative review.Annals of joint · 2025Review
- Microfracture for medium size to large knee chondral defects has limited long-term efficacy: A systematic review.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2024Review
- Knee Joint Preservation in Tactical Athletes: A Comprehensive Approach Based upon Lesion Location and Restoration of the Osteochondral Unit.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Cartilage repair strategies in the knee according to Dutch Orthopedic Surgeons: a survey study.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2023Article
- Radiofrequency Chondroplasty of the Knee Yields Excellent Clinical Outcomes and Minimal Complications: A Systematic Review.Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation · 2023Review
- Radiofrequency-Based Chondroplasty Creates a Precise Area of Targeted Chondrocyte Death With Minimal Necrosis Outside the Target Zone: A Systematic Review.Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation · 2023Review
- Sex-dependent variation in cartilage adaptation: from degeneration to regeneration.Biology of sex differences · 2023Review
- Installation of click-type functional groups enable the creation of an additive manufactured construct for the osteochondral interface.Biofabrication · 2022Article
- Within or Without You? A Perspective Comparing In Situ and Ex Situ Tissue Engineering Strategies for Articular Cartilage Repair.Advanced healthcare materials · 2022Article
- Fixation of an Osteochondral Lesion of the Femoral Intercondylar Groove Using Autogenous Osteochondral Grafts and Bioabsorbable Pins in a Patient with Open Physes: A Case Report.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Synthetic Biphasic Scaffolds versus Microfracture for Articular Cartilage Defects of the Knee: A Retrospective Comparative Study.Cartilage · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate trends in surgical treatment of articular cartilage defects of the knee in the United States.
methodsThe current procedural terminology (CPT) billing codes of patients undergoing articular cartilage procedures of the knee were searched using the PearlDiver Patient Record Database, a national database of insurance billing records. The CPT codes for chondroplasty, microfracture, osteochondral autograft, osteochondral allograft, and autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) were searched.
resultsA total of 163,448 articular cartilage procedures of the knee were identified over a 6-year period. Microfracture and chondroplasty accounted for over 98% of cases. There was no significant change in the incidence of cartilage procedures noted from 2004 (1.27 cases per 10,000 patients) to 2009 (1.53 cases per 10,000 patients) (p = 0.06). All procedures were performed more commonly in males (p < 0.001). This gender difference was smallest in patients undergoing chondroplasty (51 % males and 49% females) and greatest for open osteochondral allograft (61% males and 39% females). Chondroplasty and microfracture were most commonly performed in patients aged 40-59, while all other procedures were performed most frequently in patients <40 years old (p < 0.001).
conclusionsArticular cartilage lesions of the knee are most commonly treated with microfracture or chondroplasty in the United States. Chondroplasty and microfracture were most often performed in middle-aged patients, whereas osteochondral autograft, allograft, and ACI were performed in younger patients, and more frequently in males. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Cross-sectional study, Level IV.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.