This first image shows an acute, or fresh cartilage defect, which occurred in association with an ACL tear.
We elected to fix this with a cartilage plug or osteochondral autograft transfer system … what’s called an OATS procedure, shown in the second image below.
If the defect or hole in the cartilage is isolated, fresh or acute, and it’s NOT secondary to arthritis, there are a number of other options available:
- Arthroscopy and Chondroplasty (removal of loose fragments)
- Microfracture
- OATS Procedure
- Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation
All of the above options are discussed in this section.
