[Shaving of the cartilage: how much is healthy?].

The shaving of the knee joint can only help patients, who suffer from gonarthrosis, if the tissue, whether it is a mechanical part of hindering cartilage or a part of meniscus, is removed parsimoniously. An improvement is reached through the removal of the mechanical obstacles and also through a washing of the joint and lessening of the painful articular irritation. A cartilage that has been treated by a superficial shaving is not able to regenerate. A deeper shaving with a removal of the subchondral bone leads to a partial reconstitution of a substitute cartilage (fibrous cartilage), according to the age of the patient and to the alignment of the knee joint. This regeneration is not necessarily accompanied by a relief of pain. Nevertheless, the substitute cartilage does not attach itself firmly with the near-lying hyaline cartilage. At the same time the fibrous cartilage supports weight with difficulty and degenerates rapidly. The indication of the shaving of the knee joint should only be applied by exception and be reserved for middle-aged patients with a gonarthrosis and with signs of mechanical stocking.