Age Is Not a Contraindication for Cartilage Surgery: A Critical Analysis of Standardized Outcomes at Long-term Follow-up

Abstract

The benefit of cartilage treatments in patients with increasing age but without any sign of osteoarthritis was higher than previously reported in literature. In fact, when the decreasing functional level expected by an aging population was considered, standardized results showed an overall benefit after cartilage treatment in patients older than 40 years that was not significantly different from the outcome achieved in younger patients. Thus, age is not a strict contraindication as previously suggested, and future studies should consider standardization of data to prove the real age limit of cartilage treatments.