Costal cartilage grafting in the treatment of concurrent osteochondral lesion of the talus in a trimalleolar fracture

A 49-year-old female sustained a trimalleolar fracture concurrent with 10 years history of symptomatic osteochondral lesions of the talus. We performed a costal cartilage grafting for osteochondral lesions of the talus through the inherent medial malleolar fracture gap, followed by internal fixation of the fracture. During the follow-up, the fracture healed within the expected time, accompanied by favorable functional outcomes and pre-injury pain relief. At 3 years postoperatively, the graft merged with the bone bed of the talus, and progressive endochondral ossification was observed at the graft-bone interface. The case provides us a chance to verify whether the costal cartilage grafting is reliable for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus.