Abstract
Objectives:
The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes and rates of return to play in patients who underwent an osteochondral allograft (OCA) procedure for a symptomatic osteochondral defect in the knee.
Methods:
A retrospective review of patients who underwent an OCA for an osteochondral defect of the knee, between June 2011 and March 2019 was performed. Return to play, the level of return and the timing of return were assessed. Additionally, the reasons for being unable to return were evaluated. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Results:
Overall, there were 103 patients who underwent OCA at our institution and met our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean age was 31.8 ± 11 years, and 63.9% were male, with a mean of 44.2 ± 23.3 month follow-up. The overall rate of return to play was found to be 63.1% (N=65), while the rate of RTP at the same or higher level was 32.0% (N = 33). With respect to the patients who were unable to return to their desired sport, reasons cited included pain in the operative knee (N = 18, 47.3%), physical inability to perform in the desired sport (N = 8, 21.1%), and fear of re-injury (N = 6, 15.8%).
Conclusions:
Overall, there was a poor rate of return to play following OCA. Additionally, the majority of patients were unable to return to play at their pre-injury level.