A 5-year follow-up after cartilage repair in the knee using a platelet-rich plasma-immersed polymer-based implant

The aim of our study was to analyze the clinical outcome after repair of cartilage defects of the knee with subchondral drilling and resorbable polymer-based implants immersed with autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Fifty-two patients with focal chondral defects were treated with subchondral drilling, followed by covering with a polyglycolic acid - hyaluronan (PGA-HA) implant (chondrotissue®) immersed with autologous PRP. At 5-year follow-up, patients' situation was assessed using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and compared to the pre-operative situation. The KOOS showed clinically meaningful and significant (p < 0.05) improvement in all subcategories compared to baseline. Subgroup analysis showed that there were no differences in the clinical outcome regarding defect size and localization as well as degenerative condition of the knee. Cartilage repair was complete in 20 out of 21 patients at 4-year follow-up as shown by magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) scoring. Covering of focal cartilage defects with the PGA-HA implant and PRP after bone marrow stimulation leads to a lasting improvement of the patients' situation.