EARLY RESULTS OF ARTHROSCOPIC REPAIR OF ACETABULAR CHONDRAL LESIONS USING FIBRIN

A. Tzaveas, R. Miller, R. Villar
The Richard Villar Practice, Wellington Hospital, London, UK
Aim: To assess the effectiveness of arthroscopic repair of chondral lesions of the acetabulum using fibrin, and the postoperative assessment of the patients.
Material and method: The study includes patients undergoing hip arthroscopy who are found to have chondral lesions of the acetabulum, with delamination of the articular cartilage. The method involves the creation of microfractures in the subchondral bone and the fixation of the articular cartilage using fibrin.
Results: Patients improved in terms of pain and hip function, based on the Visual Analogue Scale for pain and the Harris hip score for the hip. In addition, repeat arthroscopies in patients with pre-existing lesions showed the articular cartilage to be stable and fixed to the subchondral bone.
Conclusions: The results suggest that fixation of the acetabular articular cartilage using fibrin is an attractive technique in cases of delamination, in contrast to the established technique of excising the detached chondral flap. In order to demonstrate the therapeutic effect, systematic study of the method in the form of a protocol is required, together with follow-up of the patients for at least one year and statistical analysis of the results.