Sufficient Cartilage for Most Talar Articular Defects Can Be Harvested From the Non-Loadbearing Talus: A Cadaveric...

To assess the quantity of morselized cartilage that can be harvested from the non-load-bearing portion of the talus for immediate reimplantation.

Non-load-bearing talar cartilage was harvested from 5 cadaveric specimens using a standard arthroscopic approach. Cartilage was separated from the talus in maximum dorsiflexion at the junction of the talar head and neck, grasped, and morselized into a graft using a cartilage particulator. The volume of reclaimed cartilage was measured, and the extrapolated area of coverage was compared to average osteochondral lesions of the talus previously reported.

The total yield of cartilage graft following processing that was obtained from 5 ankle joints ranged from 0.3 mL to 2.1 mL with a mean volume of 1.3 ± 0.7 mL, yielding a theoretical 13.2 ± 7.1 cm² coverage with a 1-mm monolayer. While the average size of osteochondral lesions of the talus is difficult to estimate, they may range from 0.5 cm² to 3.7 cm² according to the literature.

This study validated that it is possible to harvest sufficient amount of cartilage for an autologous morselized cartilage graft via a single-stage, single-site surgical and processing technique to address most talar articular cartilage defects.

Particulated cartilage autografts have shown promise in surgical management of cartilage defects. A single-site, single-staged procedure that uses a patient's autologous talar cartilage from the same joint has the potential to reduce morbidity associated with multiple surgical sites, multistaged procedure, or nonautologous tissue in ankle surgery.