Which statement about articular cartilage is true?

Prepare for the Tissue Injury, Healing, and Pain Test. Utilize flashcards and multiple-choice questions with hints and explanations. Ensure you're ready for the exam!

Multiple Choice

Which statement about articular cartilage is true?

Articular cartilage is avascular and aneural. It contains no blood vessels or nerves, so nutrients and waste move by diffusion from the surrounding synovial fluid and the underlying bone. This lack of a vascular and neural supply explains why the tissue has very limited capacity to heal after injury—there’s no direct blood supply delivering reparative cells, and pain signals from the cartilage itself are minimal or absent, with pain arising from surrounding structures when injury occurs. Because of this, statements claiming vascularity, innervation, or rapid spontaneous healing are not accurate.

Articular cartilage is avascular and aneural. It contains no blood vessels or nerves, so nutrients and waste move by diffusion from the surrounding synovial fluid and the underlying bone. This lack of a vascular and neural supply explains why the tissue has very limited capacity to heal after injury—there’s no direct blood supply delivering reparative cells, and pain signals from the cartilage itself are minimal or absent, with pain arising from surrounding structures when injury occurs. Because of this, statements claiming vascularity, innervation, or rapid spontaneous healing are not accurate.

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