High Short-Term Failure Rate Associated With Decellularized Osteochondral Allograft for Treatment of Knee Cartilage Lesions.
Academic Article
Overview
abstract
PURPOSE: To report the short-term clinical and radiographic outcomes following the use of decellularized osteochondral (OC) allograft plugs in the treatment of distal femoral OC lesions. METHODS: An Institutional Review Board-approved database with prospectively collected data was used to identify patients treated with the decellularized OC allograft plugs implant. Demographic information, patient-reported outcomes, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the number and type of reoperations were assessed. Failure was defined as revision surgery with removal of the implant. Patients were evaluated pre- and postoperatively using the Short Form-36, Activity of Daily Living Score, International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Evaluation, Cincinnati Knee Rating System, and Marx Activity Scale. MRIs were evaluated using the OsteoChondral Allograft MRI Scoring System. RESULTS: Thirty-four patients were identified, with a mean age of 45 (±11.9) years; 71% were male. Fifteen (44%) patients had undergone prior ipsilateral surgical intervention. Mean defect size was 4 (±1.5) cm2, and median number of allografts per knee was 2 (range, 1-5). Mean follow-up duration was 15.5 months (range, 6-24). Ten patients (29%) required revision surgery with removal of the implant. Implant survivorship was 61% at 2 years. Female gender was independently predictive of failure, with a hazard ratio of 9.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0-58.9; P = .005). Defect size was also independently predictive of failure, with a hazard ratio of 1.9 per 1 cm2 increase (95% CI, 1.2-3.1; P = .005). MRIs obtained at 1 year postoperatively demonstrated significantly improved osseous integration (P = .0086) and opposing cartilage (P = .019) in the nonfailure group as compared with the failure group. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the high short-term failure rate observed in this study, the authors advise that a decellularized OC allograft plugs implant should be used with caution in the treatment of OC lesions of the knee, as similar outcomes have not been noted with other cartilage restoration techniques. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.
