Dr Goyal stressed importance of proper decision making during '34th Annual Conference of Gujarat Orthopedic Association' held at Vadodra.

Wise selection of cartilage repair method is based on various factors and there is no single treatment for all the cases. Surgeon should consider various variables like age, weight, type of damage, depth of damage, activity level of patient, associated injuries and diseases etc.

Younger patients have high potential to regenerate repaired cartilage while senior patients have poor potential. Hence nature will be more supportive to surgeon at a younger age. An overweight patient can damage the repaired cartilage early and hence surgeon should put this fact into consideration. Bone deep cartilage damage is different from superficial cartilage damage, thus requiring different treatment strategies. In the same way, damage associated with injury is different than cartilage damage associated with wear and tear (degeneration); thereby influencing the type of cartilage repair. A high activity level patient (sportsmen, dancers, industry labour) require more robust cartilage repair method; while low activity demand patient (sedentary worker, office executive etc) may do well with less aggressive cartilage repair method.

A wisely chosen treatment increases chances of a successful treatment while a bad decision can decrease the chances of success, Dr Goyal concluded.

SO Team