How long does it take for a subchondral fracture to heal?
Traditionally, conservative therapy is continued for 3 months, but it has been demonstrated that in reversible cases of subchondral fracture, bone marrow edema required an average of 5 months to resolve,7 so a longer period of conservative treatment and observation may be preferable.
What are subchondral fractures?
Subchondral insufficiency fractures (SIF) are a type of stress fracture which occurs below the cartilage on the weight bearing surface of a bone. SIF occur when normal physiological forces are repeatedly applied to an area of bone compromised by non-tumorous disease, resulting in fracture.
How are subchondral insufficiency fractures treated?
Subchondral insufficiency fracture of the femoral head (SIFFH) is characterized by acute onset hip pain without overt trauma. It appears as a low intensity band with bone marrow edema on T1-weighted MRI. The most common course of treatment is protected weight bearing for a period of several weeks.
How serious is a subchondral fracture?
Subchondral insufficiency fractures are slowly healing fractures of the bone situated immediately below the cartilage of a joint. The prognosis may range from full recovery to rapidly escalating joint destruction.
What does subcortical fracture mean?
A subchondral fracture is a fracture of the trabecular cancellous bone just beneath the subchondral bone plate without disruption of the articular surface 1.
Where is the subchondral bone?
Subchondral bone is the layer of bone just below the cartilage in a joint. the -chondral refers to cartilage, while the prefix sub means below. Subchondral bone is a shock absorber in weight-bearing joints.
What is subchondral fracture of the medial tibial plateau?
Subchondral insufficiency fracture of the knee (SIF/SIFK) are stress fractures in the femoral condyles or tibial plateau that occur in the absence of acute trauma, typically affecting older adults.
What happens to the subchondral bone in osteoarthritis?
Traditionally, osteoarthritis (OA) has been considered to be wear and tear of articular cartilage, but more recent evidence has shown that subchondral bone disturbance and synovial inflammation can initiate and lead to disease progression.
How do you treat an insufficiency fracture?
The majority of sacral insufficiency fractures are treated conservatively. Bed rest, pain medication, treatment for underlying osteoporosis followed by a return to normal activities over a periods of months result in the recovery of the vast majority of patients17,19).
What does the subchondral bone do?
The function of the subchondral bone is to attenuate forces generated through locomotion, with the compact subchondral bone plate providing firm support and the subchondral trabecular component providing elasticity for shock absorption during joint loading (3).
Can you bend your knee with a tibial plateau fracture?
Can I bend my knee after tibial plateau fracture? Yes, bending the knee can start immediately after tibial plateau fracture if you did not have surgery. If you had surgery then you can start bending the knee to 90 degrees 1 week after surgery.
What does subchondral mean in medical terms?
“Subchondral bone” is bone that sits underneath cartilage in a joint. Subchondral bone is found in large joints like the knees and hips, as well as in small joints like those of the hands and feet. “Sclerosis” refers to an unusual increase in the density or hardness of a tissue in the body.