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RESEARCH & ARTICLES

Fresh OCA Transplantation for Treatment of Unstable Osteochondritis Dissecans of Capitellum in Elbow

Purpose: To describe an OCA transplantation technique for the treatment of OCD of the humeral capitellum and report mid-term follow-up results.

Summary:

  • Current surgical options either do not restore hyaline cartilage or lead to donor site morbidity
  • This  mini-open technique utilizes a fresh medial or lateral femoral hemicondyle and harvests from an area that most closely matches the radius of curvature of the capitellum using an Arthrex coring reamer
  • 10 skeletally mature patients between ages 14 and 18 underwent an OCA transplantation and were followed-up at a mean of 44 months
  • Post-operatively patients showed significant improvement in MAYO Elbow Score, DASH Score, Oxford Elbow Score and VAS
  • 9 patients were baseball players and 100% of them returned to play for at least 2 years – reasons for stopping were loss of interest and not related to the elbow

Take Away: Fresh OCA transplantation is another alternative for capitellar reconstruction as a result of an unstable OCD lesion and presents with advantages over other surgical alternatives.

 

Authors: Paramjit Singh, MD and Raffy Mirzayan, MD

Published: Techniques in Shoulder & Elbow Surgery. March 2016.

Institution: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kaiser Permanente, Baldwin Park, CA

Click here to access the abstract.