Biological Therapies for Cartilage Lesions in the Hip: A New Horizon

Treatment of hip cartilage disease is challenging, and there is no clear algorithm to address this entity. Biomarkers are arising as promising diagnostic tools because they could play a role in the early assessment of the prearthritic joint and as a prognostic factor before and after treatment. The potential effect of biomarkers may be used to categorize individuals at risk of evolving to severe osteoarthritis, to develop new measures for clinical progression of the disease, and to develop new treatment options for the prevention of osteoarthritis progression. A trend toward a less invasive biological treatment will usher in a new treatment era. With the growth of surgical skills in hip arthroscopy, cartilage restoration techniques are evolving in a fast and exponential manner. Biological and surgical treatments have been proposed to treat these pathologies. Biological treatments include platelet-rich plasma, stem cells or bone marrow aspirate concentration, hyaluronic acid, losartan, and fish oil. Surgical treatments include microfracture alone or augmented, direct repair, autologous chondrocyte implantation, matrix-induced chondrocyte implantation, autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis, mosaicplasty, osteochondral allograft transplantation, and stem cells implanted in matrix (stem cells in membranes/expanded stem cells). This article reviews new evidence available on treatment options for chondral lesions and early osteoarthritis of the hip.