Reviving the debate: Articular cartilage preservation during disarticulation at the lower limb? A systematic review.

Background: The need for preservation(P) or removal(R) of articular cartilage during disarticulations remains unanswered.

Methods: Medline database was used to conduct a systematic review regarding all types of minor disarticulations and some types of major disarticulations in patients with diabetes mellitus, peripheral arterial disease or trauma related disarticulations. Fisher-exact statistical test was used to perform calculations for the entire group as for subgroups.