Therapy

In addition to a number of different conservative treatment methods, there are also surgical therapies that can be used in cases of cartilage damage to the ankle joint. Whether surgery makes sense in individual cases depends on various factors. In addition to the cause of the cartilage damage of the ankle joint, factors such as age and the response to conservative treatment methods also determine the treatment recommendations of the treating physician.

One surgical option to improve the healing of the joint cartilage and the symptoms of the affected person is the so-called debridement. This involves the removal of structures foreign to the joint that are located in the joint space due to inflammation and damage to the cartilage. The so-called lavage, in which the joint space is rinsed with a liquid, is supposed to have the same effect.

Often both procedures are performed simultaneously. In addition to these procedures, which have existed and been performed for a long time, new procedures have recently been applied, which in many cases have been able to effectively prevent the cartilage damage from progressing. Since the body itself is not able to rebuild the cartilage, other ways have to be found to form cartilage at the joint.

By drilling or the so-called microfracturing of the bone, it can be moved to build up cartilage. Whether this measure has a chance of success must be decided in each individual case. Another possibility is the implementation of a cartilage cell transplantation.

Here, healthy cartilage cells are taken from the affected person and stimulated to multiply in the laboratory. As soon as sufficient material is available, the cartilage tissue can be transplanted into the damaged ankle joint. Cartilage-bone transplantation (OATS) is also the transplantation of cartilage tissue, with the difference that the transplanted cartilage is removed together with a piece of bone and inserted into the cartilage damage.

This greatly increases the success rate, since the transplantation of cartilage tissue itself is very difficult to achieve. The disadvantage of this operation is the need to remove healthy cartilage material from another part of the body. Care is taken to ensure that cartilage material is taken from places where there is little joint stress.