Combining Microfractures, Autologous Bone Graft, and Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis for the Treatment of Juvenile Osteochondral Talar Lesions

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and radiologic outcomes of patients younger than 20 years, treated with the arthroscopic-talus autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis (AT-AMIC) technique and autologous bone graft for osteochondral lesion of the talus (OLT). Methods: Eleven patients under 20 years (range 13.3-20.0) underwent the AT-AMIC procedure and autologous bone graft for OLTs. Patients were evaluated preoperatively (T0) and at 6 (T1), 12 (T2), and 24 (T3) months postoperatively, using the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Ankle and Hindfoot (AOFAS) score, the visual analog scale and the SF-12 respectively in its Mental and Physical Component Scores. Radiologic assessment included computed tomographic (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and intraoperative measurement of the lesion. A multivariate statistical analysis was performed. Results: Mean lesion size measured during surgery was 1.1 cm3 ± 0.5 cm3. We found a significant difference in clinical and radiologic parameters with analysis of variance for repeated measures (P < .001). All clinical scores significantly improved (P < .05) from T0 to T3. Lesion area significantly reduced from 119.1 ± 29.1 mm2 preoperatively to 77.9 ± 15.8 mm2 (P < .05) at final follow-up as assessed by CT, and from 132.2 ± 31.3 mm2 to 85.3 ± 14.5 mm2 (P < .05) as assessed by MRI. Moreover, we noted an important correlation between intraoperative size of the lesion and body mass index (BMI) (P = .011). Conclusions: The technique can be considered safe and effective with early good results in young patients. Moreover, we demonstrated a significant correlation between BMI and lesion size and a significant impact of OLTs on quality of life. Level of Evidence: Level IV, retrospective case series.