Editorial Commentary: Radiographic Measurements of Knee Joint Space Are Inadequate for Demonstrating Chondral Restoration

Jason A. Grassbaugh, Edward D. Arrington

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialpeer-review

Abstract

Orthopaedic advancements into the 21st century will increasingly focus on chondral restoration to either halt or reverse degenerative processes. Researchers and clinicians will need tools beyond patient-reported outcomes to measure the effectiveness of these treatment efforts. The use of joint space width (JSW) as a surrogate for chondral restoration is inadequate. At a minimum, such observations must standardize load transmission across the joint to be useful. Simple, readily available, standardized, and clinically useful measures of knee chondral restoration would facilitate and accelerate advances in the field. For now, it may be that improvement in JSW after chondral restoration could be attributable to changes in mechanical alignment of the knee and not the chondral restoration. JSW is an inadequate surrogate for chondral restoration, and anyone doing a stress radiograph of a unicompartmental degenerative knee recognizes this point.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)669-671
Number of pages3
JournalArthroscopy - Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2021
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

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