Wang D et al. – This study compared the failure rates and clinical outcomes of osteochondral allograft transplantation (OCA) in knees with intact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) versus knees with reconstructed ACL at midterm follow–up. The authors concluded that OCA in previous or concomitant ACL reconstruction (ACLR) does not indicate failure rates or compromise clinical outcomes.

Methods

• A prospective registry of patients treated with OCA for focal chondral lesions (≥2 cm2 ) with minimum 2–year follow–up was used to compare ACL–reconstructed knees versus ACL–intact knees by age, sex, and primary chondral defect location.

Results

• ACL–reconstructed patients (n = 25) averaged 2.2 ± 1.9 previous surgeries on the ipsilateral knee versus 1.4 ± 1.4 surgeries for ACL–intact patients (n = 50).
• At final follow–up, 22% of ACL–intact and 32% of ACL–reconstructed patients underwent reoperation and OCA survivorship at 2 and 5 years was 90% and 96% and 79% and 85% in ACL–intact and ACL–reconstructed patients, respectively (P = .774).
• Both groups revealed clinically significant improvements in the Short Form–36 pain and physical functioning, International Knee Documentation Committee subjective, and Knee Outcome Survey—Activities of Daily Living scores at final follow–up (P<.001).
• No significant differences were reported in preoperative, postoperative, and change scores between groups.