2023 SICOT Annual Meeting: Classification and comparative evaluation of treatment methods employed in the management of cartilage defects PRISMA-compliant network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

54 randomized controlled trials (3,193 patients) were included in this network meta-analysis. In this meta-analysis, the authors classified cartilage regeneration and restoration procedures for cartilage defects. The main comparator was microfracturing (MFX-I). The other management techniques included osteochondral autograft transfer system (OATS-I & OATS-II), MFX-II, MFX-III, and autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI-III). Outcomes of interest included functional, radiological, and histological outcomes after 10 years. The results of this network meta-analysis showed that OAT-II provided significantly better 10-year functional outcomes, whereas, ACI-III, OAT-II, and MFX-III provided significantly better 5-year functional outcomes.