The Use of Human Amniotic Allograft on Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Talar Dome: A Comparison with and without Allografts in Arthroscopically Treated Ankles

Arthroscopy of the ankle with micro-fracture technique is one way to initially treat symptomatic talar dome lesions. Human amniotic allograft has been used in similar bone, soft tissue and cartilage defects to aid in healing of tissue using graft cells that have not differentiated into a particular cell line. Patients were taken from the primary surgeon’s practice to include those who had undergone arthroscopy with micro-fracture technique for treatment of a talar dome lesion less than 2 cm2. 101 patient surgeries were completed arthroscopically without additional major procedures. 54 surgeries were completed with human amniotic allograft; 47 were completed without (control group). Modified ACFAS ankle scores were taken pre-operatively, 3, 12 and 24 months post-operatively. Visual analog pain scores were taken pre-operatively and 24 months post-operatively. Results comparing pre-operative modified ACFAS scores between the control and graft groups were not significantly different (p = 0.14). There was a significant improvement in both groups’ scores following ankle arthroscopy with micro-fracture as expected. However, the amniotic tissue group did significantly better when comparing the post-operative scores between the control and graft group. Pain scores comparing control and amniotic patient groups were significant (p < 0.001) with amniotic allograft patients achieving a greater improvement in pain reduction than the control both early and at 24 months. There were no complications, wound dehiscence or infections recorded. Combining ankle arthroscopy/micro-fracture technique with human amniotic allograft on talar dome lesions, less than 2 cm2, significantly improves the patients’ pain and ACFAS scores. J. J. Anderson, Z. Swayzee