Microfracture and Microfracture Plus

Articular cartilage damage remains a significant cause for early osteoarthritis in adolescents and young adults. After chondroplasty alone, the mainstay procedure for cartilage injuries is microfracture. Although in small lesions this may be successful long-term, positive results of treating larger lesions this way are less certain. This inconsistency in outcomes has led to augmentation of these defects with scaffolding for autograft regeneration or for allograft cartilage to fill the defect with a hyaline cartilage. This discussion includes current techniques for the addition of scaffolding to the microfracture defect for larger lesions, the rationale, and preliminary results.