Contact pressures at osteochondral donor sites in the knee

The purposes of this study were to determine whether any of the commonly recommended osteochondral donor sites are nonarticulating throughout a functional range of knee motion, and to determine the differential contact pressures for these sites. Ten commonly recommended sites for osteochondral harvest were evaluated with pressure-sensitive film through a functional range of motion with a model that simulated nonweightbearing resistive extension of the knee. All 10 donor sites demonstrated a significant contact pressure through 0 degree to 110 degrees of knee motion. The different color density measurements between donor sites were also significant. Although donor sites 1, 2, 9, and 10 demonstrated significantly less contact pressure than the sites with the greatest contact pressure, the difference in mean pressures was small. No osteochondral donor site tested was free from contact pressure. It is currently unknown whether articular contact at these osteochondral donor sites will lead to degenerative changes or any other problems.