Stem Cell Therapy in Articular Cartilage Injury

ABSTRACT

The natural history after articular cartilage injury is unclear. However, it is generally accepted that once articular cartilage is injured, its ability to regenerate is limited and that injury progresses to arthritis with time. Over the years various treatments have been developed and are used, such as arthroscopic debridement, microfracture, multiple drilling, osteochondral transfer, and Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI). These can be divided into treatment methods which apply cells and those which apply tissue. The former include abrasion chondroplasty, microfracture, multiple drilling, and ACI. The latter include osteochondral transfer and allograft. Combination treatments using both cells and tissues are new-generation ACI and microfracture with biomaterials. The clinical applications of stem cell therapy is still at an early stage, but shows much promise, particularly in the management of cartilage defects.