Chondral delamination of the knee and its management: a case report and review article.

Chondral delamination is the separation or debonding of the articular cartilage from the underlying subchondral bone. The hyaline cartilage has a limited capacity for healing, meaning it does not possess the innate ability to restore its normal structure or to heal the subchondral bone once detached from it. The purpose of this article is to report the outcomes of a microfracture technique used to manage chondral delamination in a 59-year-old male; we also reviewed the treatment options mentioned in the literature. The patient was admitted to the Department of Orthopedic Surgery complaining of recurrent severe right knee pain with multiple episodes of knee locking, denying any direct or twisting trauma to the knee. The plain X-ray showed mild degenerative changes with articular surface irregularity. On Magnetic resonance imaging, wide chondral delamination was noted in the medial femoral condyle. After 12 months' post-op, his condition improved. No locking was observed. Pain improved in comparison to the pre-operative levels. The international knee documentation committee improved from 26.4% to 52.9%. In a follow-up magnetic resonance imaging, the adhesion of most parts of the delaminated cartilage.

Accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Acetabular Chondral Delamination in Femoroacetabular Impingement.

Background: Currently, there is no consensus regarding the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the detection of acetabular chondral delamination (ACD) in patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), and, correspondingly, the preoperative diagnosis of ACD remains challenging. Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that MRI would have relatively high accuracy in detecting ACD in patients with FAI. Study Design: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated patients who attended the sports medicine clinic of our department and underwent arthroscopic surgery for the diagnosis of FAI between January 2018 and December 2020. All patients underwent preoperative 3.0-T MRI. ACD was evaluated by 2 raters on 3.0-T MRI scans, and interrater and intrarater reliability was assessed. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of MRI for diagnosis of ACD were calculated, using arthroscopic surgery as the standard. Results: A total of 233 patients (mean age, 37.4 years; 99 male and 134 female) were included in this study. The presence of ACD in 101 (43.3%) patients was confirmed during hip arthroscopy. The intraobserver reliability of both of the observers in detecting ACD using 3.0-T MRI scans was almost perfect (observer 1, kappa coefficient [κ] = 0.909 [95% CI, 0.854-0.964]; observer 2, κ = 0.937 [95% CI, 0.890-0.984]), and the interobserver reliability between the observers (κ = 0.801 [95% CI, 0.723-0.879]) was substantial. The overall sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of preoperative MRI to detect ACD were 83.7%, 82%, 74.2%, and 89.1%, respectively. Conclusion: It was found that 3.0-T MRI had a relatively high sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV for diagnosis of ACD in patients with FAI and could be a reliable method of diagnosing ACD preoperatively.

Diagnosis and management of chondral delamination injuries of the knee.

BACKGROUND: Chondral delamination with intact articular surface is an under-recognised entity with no previous reports on how it should be managed. The purpose of this article is to increase awareness of this entity and make recommendations for its management. METHODS: We present a small case series of three patients who presented with knee pain and subsequent MRI scans revealed chondral delamination with intact articular surface as the only explanation of symptoms. RESULTS: Two of the lesions were located in the patella and one on the lateral aspect of the medial femoral condyle. All three were treated with bioabsorbable pin fixation. The delaminated area was easily recognised at arthroscopy by its bogginess on probing. All three patients made an excellent recovery and the lesions healed on MRI. CONCLUSION: Chondral delamination with intact articular surface is best managed with bioabsorbable pin fixation so that it can be salvaged in order to optimise patient outcomes and avoid deterioration to a full thickness chondral lesion once the articular surface has separated.