Today, I'll be reporting our study entitled Clinical Outcomes of Autologous Osteochondral Transplantation for Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus, an age-based multivariable analysis. These are our relevant disclosures. Osteochondral lesions of the talus are a debilitating pathology that predominantly occur following trauma, most frequently acute ankle sprains. Management is typically dictated by the size of the lesion. Larger lesions are typically managed surgically. One such option is autologous osteochondral transfer, or AOT. To date, there has been disagreement and arguments regarding the impact of age on outcomes following AOT. The purpose of the study is to examine trends in patient characteristics and clinical outcomes that occur with age as a statistical variable when performing AOT for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus. A retrospective cohort study using chart review was carried out. Seventy-eight patients from 2006 to 2019 underwent AOT for osteochondral lesions of the talus. Clinical outcomes of patients were evaluated via FAOS scores. A multivariable linear regression was used to assess the independent factors predicted for the first postoperative FAOS after AOT. The independent variables included for preoperative FAOS, age, defect size, the presence of a shoulder lesion, the presence of a cystic lesion, a traumatic etiology, where the patient had undergone a prior microfracture surgery. In total, 78 patients were identified who had a mean age of 35.5 years old and had a mean follow-up of 54.4 months. Shoulder lesions were identified in 56 patients. The mean defect size was just under 110 mm³. 24 patients had a prior microfracture surgery, 42 patients had a cystic lesion, and 27 patients had a traumatic etiology for their osteochondral lesion of the talus. Our multivariable linear regression analysis found that defect size, shoulder lesion, and prior microfracture are predictors of worst postoperative outcomes following AOT. Interestingly, we found that there was no association between clinical outcomes and age. In conclusion, we found that patient age was not an independent risk factor for inferior clinical outcomes after AOT for osteochondral lesions of the talus. Additionally, cystic lesions or lesions with a traumatic etiology were not significantly associated with postoperative FAOS scores. We found that having a shoulder lesion had the largest marginal effect on postoperative FAOS. These findings provide important information for providers when counselling and selecting patients for AOT procedure for treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus. Thank you.

autologous osteochondral transplantation

osteochondral lesions of the talus

age and outcomes

defect size and outcomes

shoulder lesion and outcomes