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What Are Chondral Ulcers And How Can Surgery Help?

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Portrait of Dr Henry Chan
Dr Henry Chan

April 8th, 2019· 5 min read

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I just want to be prepared...

The joints in our body are important for our motion, daily functioning, and long-term well-being. However, accidents can happen at any age that compromise our motion.

Chondral ulcers are just one of the many types of conditions that affect joints and can range in severity and lead to rather severe complications if left unchecked.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Henry Chan took Human readers through the causes, treatments, and surgical procedures for chondral ulcers in Singapore.

Here's what he had to say.

What is a chondral ulcer?

a knee joint model

"Chondral" means cartilage. Meant to absorb shock and let the knee joint glide smoothly without any pain, articular cartilage in the knee are important in smooth limb function and movements.

Chondral ulcers are caused by impact to the knee or an overly strong twisting motion on the knee.

A chondral ulcer means that there is a "hole" in your cartilage which results in "clicking" sensations, swelling, and pain in the affected joint. [1]

Chondral ulcers are challenging to deal with

a hand holding a tablet

In the past, there were limited treatment options. Doctors had to resort to glucosamine or lubricant injections (hyaluronic acid). However, these treatment options produced poor results that did not really solve the problem. [2]
It is still a challenge today to manage a chondral ulcer.

Today, we have more effective treatment

a doctor checking a patient's kene

If the chondral ulcer is not severe, then a technique called "microfracture" can be performed. This process creates tiny holes in the bone, releasing stem cells that repair the cartilage.

This is supplemented with cartilage scaffold injections to improve effective recovery. [3]

Bigger ulcers may require bone marrow stem cells

injection into the knee

Recently, plenty of breakthroughs have been made in the treatment of chondral ulcers, one of which is stem cell treatment. If an ulcer is larger than expected or if there are multiple ulcers, doctors may need to use bone marrow stem cells to increase the success rate.

During Bone Marrow Aspirate Stem Cell Concentrate (BMAC) surgery, surgeons apply small injections to the pelvis to extract stem cells, adding the cells in turn to the cartilage repair site. [4]

These procedures are performed as keyhole surgeries

doctors preparing in operating theatre

Dr Chan explains that the repair techniques mentioned above are grouped under Mesenchumal cell-induced chondrogenesis (MCIC), and are conducted as keyhole surgeries that aim to be minimally invasive.

If you undergo any of the procedures described above, you may opt for a day surgery procedure or choose to spend one day resting in hospital after surgery. [5]

a patient talking to a doctor

The advancement of medical science has helped contribute to a safer and more promising future for sufferers of chondral ulcers.

With that being said, it is important that you seek treatment as soon as possible and get a thorough assessment from your medical doctor before trying any treatment for knee pain.

Would you like to ask any related health questions?

You can Ask A Doctor right away, or view the complete list of Human Sessions.

I hope that you've found this guide useful, and perhaps gained more insight into the application process. Most of the admissions-related information (admin and logistics wise) can be found on the official NUS Faculty of Dentistry website.

To help yourself out, you should take note of what people look for when they look for a dentist.

This article was written by Dr Henry Chan and published on Wednesday, 25 January 2017. Human medically reviewed the article on Wednesday, 25 January 2017. The last update was made on Friday, 18 September 2020.

Disclaimer: Opinions belong to the author and not to the platform.

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