Question

A client recently diagnosed with an injury to the articular cartilage of the knee asks the nurse how long it will take the injury to heal. Which of the following statements is the best response from the nurse?

"Regeneration of most cartilage is slow. These injuries can take a long time to heal."

Answer 1

'Cartilages regeneration is always slow. These injuries can take a long time to heal'.

Step-by-step explanation:

Anatomically, cartilages are sets of connective tissues which are avascular. That is they lack blood vessels. Thus their cells lack supply of nutrients, and oxygen, and are therefore of low metabolic activities.They obtain their supplies from adjacent connective tissues through diffusion.

Therefore when damaged, their regeneration is very slow (except in kids) because of slow metabolic rates, and lack of needed materials for mitotic cell division for growth and regeneration.

They usually undergo the process of scar formation which is very slow to regenerate.This explains why the option above is the correct one.

Answer 2

These injuries can take a long time to heal.

Step-by-step explanation:

Intra-articular cartilage takes time to heal when compared to cartilages that are not intra-articular. Exposure of the injured cartilage to synovial fluid within the joint space will hinder heal. Synovial fluid has been known to inhibit healing because it has lytic effect on the structures.

Since cartilages heal slowly, it requires more time for intra-articular cartilages to heal.