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Juvenile allograft cartilage implant relieves pain of osteochondral talar lesions
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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Researchers found significantly improved outcomes following implantation of particulated juvenile cartilage to treat osteochondral lesions of the talus or defects from failed microfracture.
“Arthroscopic-assisted juvenile cartilage implantation is an effective single-stage procedure modality for moderately-sized lesions or for patients that have failed previous microfracture,” Dinesh Dhanaraj, MD, MSPH, said at the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Annual Meeting, here.
Dinesh Dhanaraj
Dhanaraj and colleagues implanted DeNovo NT juvenile allograft cartilage (Zimmer; Warsaw, Ind.) in 13 patients aged 43.4 years old mean who had either an osteochondral lesion that measured 1.5cm2, average, or a failed microfracture of the talus. They sealed the area with fibrin glue and followed up patients for 15 months, mean.
Patients remained non-weight bearing for 6 weeks after treatment.
American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society scores improved from 56 points preoperatively to 87 points postoperatively and preoperative Visual Analog Scale pain scores decreased from 7 points to 1.6 points postoperatively, according to Dhanaraj.
He noted that SF-36 scores improved from 30.8 points preoperatively to 47.1 points postoperatively and Foot and Ankle Ability Measures activities of daily living scores changed from 46.4 points preoperatively to 80.6 points postoperatively.
One patient with persistent pain required an arthroscopy, Dhanaraj noted.
“Our study shows positive short-term outcomes; however, we do understand the need for further longitudinal studies to fully evaluate this method,” he said.
Reference:
Dhanaraj D. Paper #68. Presented at: American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Annual Meeting; July 18-20, 2013; Hollywood, Fla.
Disclosure: Dhanaraj has no relevant financial disclosures.