A Systematic Review of Fresh Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation for Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus

CATEGORY: Ankle INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: The term osteochondral lesion of the talus (OLT) refers to any pathology of the talar articular cartilage and corresponding subchondral bone. In general, OLTs can pose a formidable treatment challenge to the orthopaedic surgeon due to the poor intrinsic ability of cartilage to heal as well as the tenuous vascular supply to the talus. Although many treatment options exist, including microfracture, retrograde drilling, autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), and osteochondral autograft transfer system (OATS) these options may be inadequate to treat large cartilage lesions. Osteochondral allografts have demonstrated promise as the primary treatment for OLTs with substantial cartilage and bone involvement. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of outcomes after fresh osteochondral allograft transplantation for OLTs. METHODS: PudMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, and Medline were searched using PRISMA guidelines. Studies that evaluated outcomes in adult patients after fresh osteochondral allograft transplantation for chondral defects of the talus were included. Operative results, according to standardized scoring systems, such as the AOFAS Ankle/Hindfoot scale and the Visual Analog Scale were compared across various studies. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Coleman methodology score. RESULTS: There were a total of 12 eligible studies reporting on 191 patients with OLTs with an average follow-up of 56.8 months (range 6-240). The mean age was 37.5 (range 17-74) years and the overall graft survival rate was 86.6%. The AOFAS Ankle/Hindfoot score was obtained pre- and postoperatively in 6 of the 12 studies and had significant improvements in each (P<0.05). Similarly, the VAS pain score was evaluated in 5 of the 12 studies and showed significant decreases (P<0.05) from pre- to postoperatively with an aggregate mean preoperative VAS score of 7.3 and an aggregate postoperative value of 2.6. The reported short-term complication rate was 0%. The overall failure rate was 13.4% and 21.6% percent of patients had subsequent procedures. CONCLUSION: The treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus remains a challenge to orthopaedic surgeons. From this systematic review, one can conclude that osteochondral allograft transplantation for osteochondral lesions of the talus results in predictably favorable outcomes with an impressive graft survival rate and high satisfaction rates at intermediate follow-up.