Why is cartilage healing limited?

• A. Abundant blood supply and nerves
• B. Lymphatics are abundant
• C. Lack of lymphatics, blood vessels, and nerves
• D. Cartilage heals rapidly

Answer: (C)

Cartilage healing is limited because it is avascular, aneural, and lacks lymphatics. Without blood vessels, nutrients, oxygen, and reparative cells must diffuse from surrounding tissues, a process that is slow and often insufficient to support robust healing. The chondrocytes inside cartilage have low metabolic activity and are embedded in a dense extracellular matrix that hinders cell migration and new tissue formation. In articular cartilage, there is no perichondrium to supply progenitor cells, so repair relies on diffusion from the subchondral bone and tends to produce fibrocartilage rather than the original hyaline cartilage, resulting in incomplete or poor regeneration.