Introduction: The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe technical aspects of arthroscopic, purely autologous chondrocyte transplantation of the hip and to report short-term data of the postoperative outcome in a consecutive series of patients.
Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed six patients with a full-thickness chondral defect of the hip joint. The defect was treated with an arthroscopically applicable 3-dimensional purely autologous chondrocyte transplant product (chondrosphere(®); co.don(®) AG, Berlin, Germany) in a two-step surgical procedure. Patient-administered scores were assessed at baseline (day before transplantation) and at 6 weeks, 3, 6 and 12 months.
Results: Six out of six initially included patients (five males, one female) with a median age of 32.5 years and an average defect size of 3.5 cm(2) were available for follow-up after a mean of 11.2 months. Five acetabular and one femoral defect were treated. An overall statistically significant improvement was observed for all assessment scores (NHS, mHHS and SF 36).
Conclusion: In this study, we displayed the feasibility and technical aspects of arthroscopic matrix-associated, purely autologous chondrocyte transplantation as a treatment option for full-thickness cartilage defects of the hip. The patient-administered assessment scores demonstrated an increase in activity level and quality of life after a 1-year follow-up.
Level of evidence: Level IV, retrospective study.