MERCH

Study Description: Diagnosis of articular cartilage damage is fraught with difficulty, given articular cartilage is relatively thin and the complexity of labral damage assessment. Assessment and management of cartilage defects of the hip are largely based on the current breadth of information in the knee. Multiple scores have been developed to categorize cartilage status in the hip, but they are very broad, and do not evaluate the repair and reconstruction of hip cartilage.

Given the lack of consistency in hip cartilage repair reporting, we propose the adaptation of the MOCART score to develop hip-specific criteria to evaluate post-operative repair and/or reconstruction of hip cartilage. This study will develop the first validated score for defining hip cartilage repair, which is expected to improve not only surgeon training, but most importantly, patient outcomes.

The study will use a modified Delphi approach to define articular cartilage damage and repair using MRI.  In addition to the survey and consensus discussion, we will distribute and validate the findings from the consensus study to ensure the criteria is appropriate for clinical use.