Bioabsorbable fixation for knee osteochondral lesions tied to high return to activity among adolescents

Key findings of the study:

• 47 patients with median age 13.9 years and 25.5% female were included with median clinical follow-up of 47.3 weeks.

• 87.2% of patients were cleared for full activities.

• Four male patients (8.5%) were recommended revision surgery, of whom three underwent surgery including removal of loose bioabsorbable fixation.

• Demographic data did not differ between the group with successful versus failed primary surgery (p > 0.05).

• Symptom duration was more acute (<1 month) in the four recommended revision surgery (75% versus 9.3%, p = 0.008).

• The group recommended revision also had larger lesion size (median 5.4 cm2 versus 2 cm2 , p = 0.04).

• Distal femoral physeal status, lesion location, necessity for bone grafting, and number of implants did not differ between groups.

The authors concluded that – “Adolescents had a high return to activity following bioabsorbable fixation for knee osteochondral lesions with 87.2% cleared for full return. In the 8.5% of patients who were deemed to have failed primary fixation, symptoms were more likely to be acute in nature with larger lesion sizes.”

Further reading:

Outcomes of bioabsorbable fixation in the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the knee in adolescent patients Kendall E. Bradley, Sachin Allahabadi et al

The Knee 37 (2022) 180–187 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knee.2022.06.009