Arthroscopy combined with high tibial osteotomy promotes cartilage regeneration in osteoarthritis.

Background: To investigate the effect of arthroscopy combined with high tibial osteotomy (HTO) on cartilage regeneration in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 50 patients with varus and medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee treated by arthroscopy combined with HTO. One year after the operation, a second-look arthroscopy was performed to observe the cartilage regeneration. The regeneration of cartilage was evaluated by different pathological staining of some of the new cartilage. Finally, part of the new cartilages (n = 6) were taken for quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting experiments to display the mechanism of cartilage regeneration.

Results: One year after arthroscopy combined with HTO, the results of arthroscopy revealed the formation of new tissue in the defect area of the medial compartment's cartilage in the knee joint. In addition, different pathological staining results indicated that the new tissue was cartilage-like tissue. Furthermore, HTO potently up-regulated the expression of p-ERK1/2 at the protein level in knee osteoarthritis patients compared with control group. However, there was no significant difference in the relative expression of collagen II at mRNA and protein level between control group and knee osteoarthritis patients.

Conclusion: Arthroscopy combined with HTO can promote cartilage regeneration in patients with knee osteoarthritis.