Clicks and cartilage: tracking virtual patient interest in cartilage repair procedures

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-31-2026

Publication Title

Journal of Cartilage & Joint Preservation

Abstract

Introduction: Osteochondral allograft (OCA) and matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI) procedures show increasing incidence, while microfracture and osteochondral autograft transfer system (OATS) show decreasing incidence. Whether public interest correlates with procedure volumes remains unclear. There is a paucity of studies evaluating readability of patient education articles on cartilage repair. Objectives: The objective was to evaluate public interest in cartilage restoration using Google Trends and assess readability of patient education articles. We hypothesized public interest would parallel performance trends and readability would be poor. Methods: Google Trends was queried for cartilage repair procedures between January 2017 and December 2024. Mean relative search volume (RSV) was obtained for “cartilage repair” and microfracture, OATS, OCA, and MACI [RSV ranges 0-100]. Readability of the first 25 articles from “cartilage repair surgery” search was assessed using Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease Score. Statistical analysis included variance tests with significance at P < .05. Results: Mean RSV for “cartilage repair” increased significantly (+17; P < .001). Microfracture had the highest mean RSV (68; P < .001). Despite being most searched, microfracture's RSV decreased significantly (−27; P < .001), as did OATS (−14; P < .001). Conversely, RSV increased significantly for OCA (+17; P < .001) and MACI (+73; P < .001). Mean FKGL was 10.9 and Flesch Reading Ease Score was 43.6, with no articles at American Medical Association (AMA)-recommended sixth grade level. Conclusions: Public interest in cartilage repair is increasing, with OCA and MACI showing increasing interest and microfracture and OATS showing decreasing interest, correlating with published procedure volume trends. Patient education articles exceed AMA-recommended reading levels.

Volume

6

Issue

3

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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