Table 1.
Comparison of current surgical options for repairing articular cartilage defects in the femoral head.
| Technique | Cartilage lesions |
Surgical approach (1-stage/2-stage) | Additional joint injury | Repair formulation |
Cost | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size | Depth | Subchondral bone | Source | Repair tissue | Osteochondral interface | ||||
| Microfracture | <2 cm2 | Full thickness | Intact | Arthroscopy (1-stage) | None | Bone marrow cells | Fibrocartilage | N/A | Minimal |
| ACI | 2–8 cm2 | Full thickness | Intact | Arthroscopy or open surgery (2-stage) | Minimal | Expanded autologous chondrocytes | Hyaline-like cartilage/fibrocartilage | N/A | Significant |
| Replantation | N/A | Delaminated | Intact/impaired | Open surgery (1-stage) | None | Autologous articular cartilage | Hyaline cartilage | Biological integration | Moderate |
| Mosaicplasty | 2–6 cm2 | Full thickness | Intact/impaired | Open surgery (1-stage) | Moderate | Autologous articular cartilage | Hyaline cartilage | Natural | Moderate |
| OAT | 2–6 cm2 | Full thickness | Intact/impaired | Open surgery (1-stage) | None | Allogeneic articular cartilage | Hyaline cartilage | Natural | Significant |
| ACCT | 2–6 cm2 | Full thickness | Intact/impaired | Open surgery (1-stage) | None | Autologous costal cartilage | Hyaline cartilage | Biological integration | Moderate |
ACCT = autologous costal cartilage transplantation; ACI = autologous chondrocyte implantation; Microfracture = surgically induced microfracture; Mosaicplasty = osteochondral autograft transplantation; N/A = not applicable; OAT = osteochondral allograft transplantation; Replantation = replantation of laminated cartilage.