Outcomes After Initial Non-Operative Treatment of Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus (OLT) in Skeletally Immature Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction Literature on treatment outcomes in skeletally immature patients with osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT) is scarce. As the healing of an OLT may be fundamentally different in a skeletally immature patient, more evidence is required focusing on this specific patient group. The primary aim of this study is to assess the conversion to surgery rate after initial non-operative management in skeletally immature patients with an OLT. The secondary aims of the present study are to assess and compare the clinical outcomes and reoperations after both non-operative and surgical treatment strategies at a mid- to long-term follow-up. Methods All skeletally immature patients at the moment of initial treatment, treated for their primary or non-primary OLT with a minimum follow-up duration of 2 years, were included in this study. Patients with concomitant injuries were excluded. All patients started with non-operative management. In case of failure of non-operative management, patients converted to Bone Marrow Stimulation (BMS) or fixation. The primary outcome was the conversion to surgery rate after initial non-operative management. Secondary outcomes consist of reoperations at mature and immature age, pain during weight bearing, measured by the numeric rating scale (NRS), NRS of pain during rest, NRS during stair climbing, Berndt and Harty outcome question, Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) and Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the patient satisfaction rate regarding the received treatment. Results A total of 52 patients, 54% female, mean age of 13.6 years, were included in this study. Median follow-up duration was 81 months (range = 24-265 months). Seventeen patients received non-operative treatment as final treatment. In total, 35 (67%) out of 52 patients required surgical treatment after initial non-operative management, of which 14 underwent BMS and 20 had fixation while skeletally immature, 1 patient that had surgical treatment as an adult was excluded for further analysis. The median NRS of pain during weight bearing was 1 (interquartile range [IQR] = 0-2), 1 (IQR = 0-3), and 0 (IQR = 0-0.5) in the (sustained) non-operative, BMS, and fixation groups, respectively ( P < 0.012). No significant differences in clinical outcomes between the different treatment groups could be observed. No complications occurred after surgical treatment. Reoperation rates were 21% and 20% in the BMS and fixation groups, respectively. Conclusions The most important finding of this study is that 67% of the patients receiving initial non-operative management for OLTs ultimately required surgery. Level of evidence Level III, cross-sectional comparative study