Purpose: Osteochondral lesions of the talus are lesions that are seen particularly in the young age group and are often related to sports injuries and trauma. These lesions, which show late symptoms radiologically, can be determined in the early stages with magnetic resonance imaging. The aim of this study was to present a new osteotomy technique to reduce the complications of mosaicplasty surgery to a minimum and provide an early return to work.
Methods: A total of 11 patients who had cartilage lesions due to osteochondritis dissecans in the medial aspect of the talus underwent mosaicplasty after a triplanar osteotomy. The dimensions of the lesion and the depth of the triplanar osteotomy were determined preoperatively. Coronal, sagittal and transverse cuts were made at the depth defined arthroscopically. Following the osteotomy, an osteochondral graft taken from the ipsilateral knee was placed in the prepared area. Osteotomy side was fixed with one or two cannulated screws following mosaicplasty.
Results: With this technique, weight-bearing can be immediate in cases with no need for osteotomy in the joint surface. In cases including the joint surface, partial weight-bearing is permitted after 4 weeks and can be increased as tolerated. In the 11 cases treated with this technique, full weight-bearing was achieved at mean 5 weeks (range, 5-8 weeks). No shift (upward displacement of osteotomized fragment) or non-union was seen in any patient.
Conclusion: With the triplanar osteotomy technique described here, potential shift complications can be reduced to a minimum. As only the lesion region is targeted, the osteochondral surface formed by the fracture is much less.
Study design: Case Series; Level of Evidence, 4.
Keywords: autologous osteochondral graft; osteochondral lesion of talus; osteochondral transplantation; osteochondritis dissecans; triplanar osteotomy.