What is a cartilage flake?
The joint surfaces of humans are covered with cartilage and ensure a smooth movement of the joint. A cartilage flake, also known as a flake fracture, is a tearing off of such cartilage from a joint. The torn off joint body is now freely movable in the joint and can lead to pain and restricted movement due to blockages. This often happens in sports accidents as a result of shearing, rotation and compression stress. The knee and ankle joints are most frequently affected.
You can recognize a cartilage flake by these symptoms
If the torn off cartilage fragment lies freely in the joint, it often causes no discomfort. In most patients, a cartilage flake therefore often remains undetected. It can, however, cause pain during movements in the joint area.
In the knee, it often occurs during flexion and rotational movements. The joint is also often swollen and there are also signs of entrapment. If the cartilage fragment blocks the movement of the joint, this can lead to movement restrictions, which can also occur very suddenly.
If the cartilage flake is not treated, it can lead to an inflammation of the joint and in the long term to arthrosis. Blasted off cartilage parts can block the joint and thus lead to movement restrictions. If the cartilage parts accumulate on the joint surfaces, the original frictionless movement of the joint cannot be completely carried out.
This is why entrapment symptoms often occur. The size of the joint is decisive. Smaller defects rarely lead to blockages in the joint, but larger defects can cause more serious blockages.
Pain is a typical symptom of a cartilage flake. Patients often report sudden, severe pain in the joint. In most cases, these are motion-related, depending on the affected joint. In the knee, they occur mainly during rotation and flexion. At rest, there is usually no pain because the fragments in the joint do not move.
