Cartilage Injury
Cartilage damage is a relatively common type of injury. It often involves the knees, although joints such as the hips, ankles and elbows can also be affected. Cartilage is a tough, flexible tissue found throughout the body. It covers the surface of joints, acting as a shock absorber and allowing bones to slide over one another. It can become damaged as a result of a sudden injury, such as a sports injury, or gradual wear and tear (osteoarthritis). Minor cartilage injuries may get better on their own within a few weeks, but more severe cartilage damage may eventually require surgery.
Symptoms of cartilage damage
Symptoms of cartilage damage in a joint include:
• joint pain – this may continue even when resting and worsen when
you put weight on the joint
• swelling – this may not develop for a few hours or days
• stiffness
• a clicking or grinding sensation
• the joint locking, catching, or giving way
It can sometimes be difficult to tell a cartilage injury apart from other common joint injuries, such as sprains, as the symptoms are similar.
When to get medical advice
If you’ve injured your joint, it’s a good idea to try self care measures first. Sprains and minor cartilage damage may get better on their own within a few days or weeks. More severe cartilage damage probably won’t improve on its own. If left untreated, it can eventually wear down the joint. Visit your GP or your local hospital if:
• you can’t move the joint properly
• you can’t control the pain with ordinary painkillers
• you can’t put any weight on the injured limb or it gives way
when you try to use it
• the injured area looks crooked or has unusual lumps or bumps
(other than swelling)
• you have numbness, discolouration, or coldness in any part of the
injured area
• your symptoms haven’t started to improve within a few days
of self-treatment
Your GP may need to refer you for tests such as an X-ray, MRI scan, or arthroscopy to find out if your cartilage is damaged.
Treatments for cartilage damage
Self care measures are usually recommended as the first treatment for minor joint injuries.
For the first few days:
• protect the affected area from further injury by using a support,
such as a knee brace
• rest the affected joint
• elevate the affected limb and apply an ice pack to the joint
regularly
• take ordinary painkillers, such as paracetamol or non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
Get medical advice if your symptoms are severe or don’t improve after a few days. You may need professional treatment, such as physiotherapy, or possibly surgery. A number of surgical techniques can be used, including:
• encouraging the growth of new cartilage by drilling small holes in
the nearby bone
• replacing the damaged cartilage with healthy cartilage taken from
another part of the joint
• replacing the entire joint with an artificial one, such as a knee
replacement – this is usually only necessary in the most severe
cases.
Minor cartilage damage may improve on its own within a few weeks, but more severe damage will often require surgery.
If you’ve injured your joint and your symptoms aren’t too severe – for example, you’re still able to put weight on and move the joint – you can often look after yourself using PRICE therapy. PRICE stands for:
• Protection – protect the affected
area from further injury by using a support,
such as a knee brace
• Rest – rest the affected joint as
much as possible during the first two or
three days (crutches may help if
you’ve injured your knee or ankle),
then try gradually returning to light
activity over the next few days and
weeks
• Ice – apply an ice pack or a bag of
frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel to the
injured area for 15-20 minutes every 2-3
hours during the first two or three
days
• Compression – compress or bandage
the injured area to limit any swelling and
movement that could damage it further; you
can use a simple elastic bandage or an
elasticated tubular bandage available from a
pharmacy
• Elevation – keep the injured area
raised and supported on a pillow whenever
you can to help reduce swelling
If your joint is painful, take ordinary painkillers such as paracetamol or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Visit your GP if your symptoms haven’t started to improve after a few days of PRICE therapy.
Physiotherapy can be helpful if you have difficulty moving the affected joint. Your GP may be able to refer you to a physiotherapist, or you may choose to pay for private treatment. A physiotherapist can teach you exercises to help strengthen the muscles surrounding or supporting your joint. This may help reduce pain and pressure on the joint. Physiotherapy can also be useful when you’re recovering from the surgical procedures described below.
Severe cartilage damage doesn’t tend to heal very well on its own, so surgery is often necessary in these cases. Surgery is usually performed using arthroscopy – a type of keyhole surgery where special instruments are inserted into the joint through small cuts (incisions) – although sometimes larger incisions need to be made. It’s normally carried out under general anaesthetic, where you’re asleep.
Some of the main procedures are:
• Meniscal surgery and chondroplasty
– the joint is assessed and torn,
problematic menisci trimmed, although repair
is possible in healthy menisci. Any loose
tissue is removed and damaged cartilage
surfaces are trimmed to make them
smooth.
• marrow stimulation (microfracture)
– tiny holes are made in the bone beneath
the damaged cartilage, which releases bone
marrow into it; the marrow cells then begin
to stimulate the production of new
cartilage
• mosaicplasty – small plugs of
healthy cartilage from non-weightbearing
areas of a joint, such as the side of the
knee, are removed and used to replace small
areas of damaged cartilage
• osteotomy – the alignment of the
leg is altered slightly to reduce pressure
on the damaged area and improve pain; this
usually involves adding or removing a wedge
of bone from the shin or thigh bone, and the
bone is fixed with a plate until it
heals
• joint replacement – replacing the
whole joint with an artificial one, such as
a knee replacement or hip replacement, is
occasionally necessary if the damage is
particularly severe
Talk to your surgeon about which type of surgery they think is best for you, what the possible risks are, and how long they expect it will take you to recover. You’ll usually need to take things easy for at least a few weeks after surgery, and you may not be able to return to strenuous activities and sports for several months.
Less common surgical procedures
There are also a number of alternative surgical techniques sometimes used to treat cartilage damage, including:
• allograft osteochondral transplantation
(AOT) – similar to mosaicplasty, but
the replacement cartilage is obtained from a
recently deceased donor, and it’s used
to repair larger damaged areas
• autologous chondrocyte implantation
(ACI) – the surgeon first takes a
small sample of cartilage cells from the
joint; these are then used to grow more
cells in a laboratory and the new cells are
used to replace the damaged cartilage
• artificial scaffolds – a special
patch or gel is used to repair the damaged
cartilage; it may be used in combination
with marrow stimulation or on its own
For more information on cartilage injury and the various treatment options please do not hesitate to get in touch with Mr Atwal through our appointments page.
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