RESEARCH & ARTICLES

Condyle-Specific Matching Does Not Improve Midterm Clinical Outcomes of OCA Transplantation

Purpose: To compare clinical outcomes between patients who receive size-matched orthotopic osteochondral allografts (OCAs) versus patients who are treated with non-orthotopic grafts.

Summary:

  • It is currently standard for many surgeons to request size and laterality matching specifications for donor condyle allografts to minimize articular incongruity
  • This method often restricts the number of compatible OCA grafts available for the procedure
  • 77 age, sex and chondral defect size matched patients (50 orthotopic and 27 non-orthotopic) had a mean follow-up of 4 years
  • There was not a significant difference of reoperation and failure rates between the two groups
  • Both groups exhibited a significant increase in SF-36, IKDC and KOOS-ADL scores
  • Removing graft specifications would make more allografts readily available, shorten wait times and lead to fewer discards


JRF Ortho Take Away: There was not a significant difference in clinical outcomes between the two groups suggesting that condyle-specific matching may not be necessary.

Access the abstract here.

Authors: Dean Wang, Kristofer J. Jones, Claire D. Eliasberg, Mollyann D. Pais, Scott A. Rodeo, Riley J. Williams

Published: The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 2017 Oct 4;99(19):1614-1620

Institution: Hospital for Special Surgery

Level of Evidence: III