Arthroscopic three-dimensional chondrocyte graft transplantation: technical note

Cartilage lesions, focal or degenerative, are frequent and represent a major health problem. Surgery is the only treatment aiming at healing the defect instead of the symptoms and is provided in order to stimulate a tissue response able to regenerate hyaline cartilage; however, only the latest technical and biological discoveries, and the derived surgery, are appearing capable of doing so. Matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation is the most effective technique, giving several advantages to both the surgeon and the patient, but requires particular attention while managing the scaffold and during its fixation. The purpose of this technical note is to introduce a new procedure to fix the scaffold with pins. This technical note ensures maximal gentleness during arthroscopic fixation of the matrix, giving also an increased stability, less harm on the tissues without using any cannula, reducing the risk of a material damage by eliminating the drilling through the chondrocyte membrane and is dotated of a very high reproducibility.