593 © ESSKA 2018 V. Musahl et al. (eds.), Return to Play in Football, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55713-6_44 Return to Play Following Cartilage Injuries Renato Andrade, Rogério Pereira, Ricardo Bastos, Hélder Pereira, J. Miguel Oliveira, Rui L. Reis, and João Espregueira-Mendes Contents 44.1 Introduction ............................................. 593 44.1.1 Epidemiology ............................................ 594 44.1.2 Treatment .................................................. 595 44.1.3 Postoperative Rehabilitation and Return to Play Criteria .............................. 597 44.2 Outcome Scores and Return to Play Considerations ............................ 601 References .............................................................. 604 44.1 Introduction Football (soccer) is the most played sport world- wide, practiced by more than 300 million people [1]. It is a high-impact contact sport, and with the increasing competitive level, it often results in sports-related damage of the knee structures, including articular cartilage injuries [2–4]. These articular cartilage injuries can also be caused by forceful and repetitive mechanical stresses on the R. Andrade Clínica do Dragão, Espregueira-Mendes Sports Centre – FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Porto, Portugal Dom Henrique Research Centre, Porto, Portugal Faculty of Sports, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal R. Pereira Clínica do Dragão, Espregueira-Mendes Sports Centre – FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Porto, Portugal Dom Henrique Research Centre, Porto, Portugal Faculty of Sports, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Faculty of Health Science, University Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal 44 R. Bastos Clínica do Dragão, Espregueira-Mendes Sports Centre – FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Porto, Portugal Dom Henrique Research Centre, Porto, Portugal Universidade Federal Fluminense, Nirteói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil H. Pereira Dom Henrique Research Centre, Porto, Portugal 3B’s Research Group – Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal