Abstract des Autors

The operative treatment of chondral defects is a still unsolved problem in orthopedic surgery, not only in the elderly sportsmen. The arthroscopic options are debridement, microfracturing, abrasion arthroplasty and the new techniques of osteochondral autograft transfer systems and chondrozyte transplantation, which should be strictly limited to young or middle-aged sportsmen. Especially in elderly people it is necessary to differentiate between patients with a degenerative joint disease and patients with a posttraumatic full-thickness chondral defect. Also very important are the general conditions of the treated joint, the ligament stability, axis deviation and meniscal pathologies, which have to be included in the complex treatment of the chondral problems. Verf.-Referat