Cost of Disability

Damage to the osteo-chondral (OC) unit can result in a personal, economic, and societal burden of disability.

The cost to patients are wider than the symptoms of pain and functional limitation. Lost working days can cause financial insecurity; particularly for professional athletes whose careers depend on their return to sport. Long-term injury also affects mental health and can predispose patients to conditions like osteoarthritis. These significantly impact quality of life, and further burden healthcare providers.

Diagnosis of an OC injury typically involves clinical, radiological, and arthroscopic assessments of the joint. Thus, based on current charges, healthcare providers and insurers may spend up to $10,000 on diagnosing one patient.

Additional tens of thousands of dollars may then be spent on treating the problem. OC damage may be treated with a combination of conservative and surgical approaches. Although cheap procedures like microfracture are common, more expensive techniques like autologous chondrocyte implantation have lower failure rates and consequently long-term cost-effectiveness.

OC injuries are likely to become more prevalent. Thus, personalized treatment pathways for optimal outcome at first intervention are now essential. Failure to improve outcomes will have serious health and economic implications.