ReviewOrthopaedic journal of sports medicine2020
Microfracture Versus Drilling of Articular Cartilage Defects: A Systematic Review of the Basic Science Evidence.
Review in Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical Applicability of Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation for the Treatment of Osteochondral Defects: A Meta-analysis.Current rheumatology reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Additional cartilage treatment for small defects in chronic ankle instability shows no mid-term benefit and delays recovery: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology · 2025Trial
- Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Synergistic Enhancement of Bone Marrow Stimulation for Enhanced Labral Repair and Functional Recovery in a Rat Bankart Model.The American journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Treatment Options for Focal Cartilage Lesions of the Knee.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2026Review
- Review
- Combined Cartilage Procedures After High Tibial Osteotomy: Cartilage Status, Early Functional Recovery, and Short-term Clinical Outcomes.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Bovine Cartilage-Derived Type II Collagen Composite Scaffolds: Collagen Characterization, Physicochemical Properties, and In Vitro Chondrocyte Responses.Journal of functional biomaterials · 2026Article
- A novel precision micro-drilling technique for treating osteochondral lesions of the talus with superior cartilage regeneration and early rehabilitation compared with microfracture: a randomized controlled study with 2-year follow-up.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2026Article
- Patellar Malalignment Combined With Deformed Valgus Knee Treated by Distal Femoral Varus Osteotomy and Retrograde Intramedullary Nailing.Orthopaedic surgery · 2026Article
- Targeted chondrogenic differentiation of human MSCs using niosomes for SOX9 gene delivery: comparison of minicircle and conventional plasmids.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Article
- Cartilage Scaffolds Implanted Without Subchondral Drilling Are Associated With Improved Outcomes and Fewer Complications Compared to Scaffolds Implanted With Subchondral Drilling in the Treatment of Isolated Patellar Cartilage Lesions.Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Patient-Reported Outcomes of Microfracture, Nanofracture, and K-Wire Drilling in Talus Osteochondral Lesions.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The collagen-augmented chondrogenesis technique demonstrates superior cartilage repair compared to microfracture for cartilage defects of the knee joint, regardless of age.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Article
- Minimally Invasive Management of Posterolateral Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus Using Posterior Ankle Arthroscopy and Autologous Iliac Osteochondral Grafts.Arthroscopy techniques · 2025Article
- Comparison of Clinical, Radiologic, and Arthroscopic Outcomes Between the Microfracture and Microdrilling Techniques for Articular Cartilage Defects in Medial Opening-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Detriment of subchondral plate violation in antegrade osteochondral procedures-lessons and future direction.Annals of joint · 2025Review
- Subchondral bone contribution to osteochondral health and injury.Annals of joint · 2025Review
- Microfragmented Adipose Tissue Associated With Collagen Membrane in the Treatment of Focal Knee Cartilage Defect.Arthroscopy techniques · 2024Article
- A phosphate glass reinforced composite acrylamide gradient scaffold for osteochondral interface regeneration.Biomaterials and biosystems · 2024Article
- Chitosan-based scaffold augmentation to microfractures: Stable results at mid-term follow-up in patients with patellar cartilage lesions.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMicrofracture (MFx) is one of the most common techniques used for the treatment of articular cartilage defects, although recently there has been a trend toward the use of drilling rather than MFx for the treatment of these defects. PURPOSE: To perform a systematic review of basic science studies to determine the effect of microfracture versus drilling for articular cartilage repair. STUDY
designSystematic review.
methodsA systematic review was performed by searching PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and EMBASE to identify basic science studies comparing outcomes of MFx versus drilling. The search phrase used was
resultsA total of 7 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Of these, 4 studies were performed in rabbits, 1 study in sheep, and 2 studies in humans. All of the included studies investigated cartilage repair in the knee. In the animal studies, microfracture produced fractured and compacted bone and led to increased osteocyte necrosis compared with drilling. Deep drilling (6 mm) was superior to both shallow drilling (2 mm) and MFx in terms of increased subchondral hematoma with greater access to marrow stroma, improved cartilage repair, and increased mineralized bone. However, the overall quality of cartilage repair tissue was poor regardless of marrow stimulation technique. In 2 studies that investigated repair tissue after MFx and/or drilling in human patients with osteoarthritis and cartilage defects, the investigators found that cartilage repair tissue did not achieve the quality of normal hyaline articular cartilage.
conclusionIn the limited basic science studies that are available, deep drilling of cartilage defects in the knee resulted in improved biological features compared with MFx, including less damage to the subchondral bone and greater access to marrow stroma. Regardless of marrow stimulation technique, the overall quality of cartilage regeneration was poor and did not achieve the characteristics of native hyaline cartilage. Overall, there is a general lack of basic science literature comparing microfracture versus drilling for focal chondral defects.
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.