The Nd:YAG laser in the treatment of the osteocartilagineous lesions of the knee

R. Buda, M. Buda, B. Gigolo, F. Di Caprio, R. Ghermandi, A. Zati
1st congress on Hilterapia®, 2006

Place: Rizzoli Institute for Orthopaedics, Bologna.
Purpose: evaluation of the effect of the treatment with Nd:YAG laser in the osteocartilagineous lesions of the knee.
Method: 7 patients waiting for autologous transplantation of chondrocytes for osteo-chondral lesions of the femoral condyles have been considered. 5 patients have been treated with Nd:YAG laser in between the two arthroscopic procedures, while 2 patients have not been treated. Hystologic and immunohystochemical analyses have been performed on bioptic specimens.
Results: In comparison with control, the Nd:YAG laser treatment induced increase of growth factors in synovial fluids, decrease of inflammation factors and re-growth of jaline cartilage in a different extent depending on the age of the patients and the position of the lesions.
Conclusion: The HILTherapy has anti-inflammatory and biostimulating effects, which have been demonstrated with histological and immunohystochemical tests, and induce the re-growth of cartilage.