The arthroscopic treatment of osteochondritis dissecans of the knee with autologous bone sticks.

PURPOSE: To present a new surgical technique for the fixation of partial dislocated osteochondral fragments in athletes with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the knee.

TYPE OF STUDY: Retrospective case series.

METHODS

Autologous bone sticks were taken from the ipsilateral tibial metaphysis and used in the arthroscopic fixation of unilateral osteochondritis dissecans of the knee in 11 patients (5 female and 6 male). Patient age ranged from 11 to 20 years (mean, 16 years). Fixation of the partially dislocated fragments of the OCD of the knee was performed following a modified arthroscopic procedure and autologous bone graft.

RESULTS

Follow-up ranged from 15 to 108 months (mean, 48 months). Based on modified criteria of Hughston et al., results were satisfactory in 90.9% and unsatisfactory in 9.1% of the cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Arthroscopic fixation of OCD of the knee with autologous bone sticks is technically simple and nonaggressive and provides satisfactory results in most cases.