What is an osteochondral defect?

What is an osteochondral defect?

An osteochondral defect refers to a focal area of damage that involves both the cartilage and a piece of underlying bone. These can occur from an acute traumatic injury to the knee or an underlying disorder of the bone.

What is another name for osteochondritis dissecans?

In osteochondritis dissecans, fragments of cartilage or bone become loose within a joint, leading to pain and inflammation. These fragments are sometimes referred to as joint mice. OCD is a type of osteochondrosis in which a lesion has formed within the cartilage layer itself, giving rise to secondary inflammation.

What is osteochondral defects OCD?

Osteochondral defects (OCD) or lesions (OCL) are focal areas of damage with articular cartilage damage and injury of the adjacent subchondral bone plate and subchondral cancellous bone.

What type of disease is osteochondritis dissecans?

Osteochondritis dissecans (os-tee-o-kon-DRY-tis DIS-uh-kanz) is a joint condition in which bone underneath the cartilage of a joint dies due to lack of blood flow. This bone and cartilage can then break loose, causing pain and possibly hindering joint motion.

Is osteochondritis dissecans curable?

There is no cure as such, but the condition can be treated by a variety of means depending on the size and location of the lesion as well as the age of the patient and the degree of symptoms.

How does osteochondritis dissecans happen?

Osteochondritis dissecans is a condition that occurs in the joints (the place where the end of one bone meets the end of another bone) when a lack of blood to the joint causes the bone inside to soften. This results in a small piece of the bone dying and separating from the larger bone.

How do you fix osteochondritis dissecans?

Treatment

1. Resting your joint. Avoid activities that stress your joint, such as jumping and running if your knee is affected.
2. Physical therapy. Most often, this therapy includes stretching, range-of-motion exercises and strengthening exercises for the muscles that support the involved joint.

Does osteochondritis dissecans go away?

The loose piece can break away completely from the end of the bone. Osteochondritis dissecans happens most often in the knee, elbow, or ankle. It usually takes 3 months or longer to heal completely. If it heals completely, kids who have it usually don’t have any long-lasting problems.

Do osteochondral defects get worse?

Treatments. Osteochondral defects generally linger or get worse unless they’re treated.