Abstract:

Cartilage injury is common in normal population, which seriously affects people′s daily life and work. However, cartilage injury is still a great challenge in clinical treatment. The traditional chondroplasty, such as mechanical debridement and laser, cannot meet the needs of clinical demands due to their defects. Radiofrequency chondroplasty, as a safer and more effective technique, has gradually become a research hotspot. Although basic studies have shown that local heat generated by radiofrequency may contribute to chondrocyte death. In long-term clinical follow-up studies, there is substantial evidence that radiofrequency chondroplasty obtains better outcome and somewhat delays the progression of osteoarthritis compared to mechanical debridement. When using radiofrequency, clinicians need to control the use time, distance of the radiofrequency probe, flow and temperature of the lavage fluid to ensure its safety. This article briefly introduced the history and mechanism of radiofrequency, summarized the clinical application results of radiofrequency, and discussed how to use radiofrequency more safely and effectively.

Key words: Cartilage, articular, Radiofrequency therapy, Arthroscopy