Context: Osteochondral defect (OCD) of the articular cartilage of the knee is difficult to manage and leads to recurrent episodes of pain, stiffness and finally early onset osteoarthritis. The condition is common in young individuals and is often difficult to be identified by routine clinical examination and radiographs. Thus a high index of suspicion, advanced imaging or diagnostic arthroscopy is important. There are differing opinions regarding effective surgical management. Our study is a case series of management of osteochondral defect in the knee using autologous cartilage chip graft from non weight bearing site. Aim: To evaluate the clinical outcome role of surgical management of osteochondral injuries of knee with cartilage autograft from non-articular surfaces. Settings and design: Case series. Level of evidence IV. Materials and methods: A prospective clinical evaluation of 9 patients
was done in Department of orthopaedics at the KLE’S Dr. Prabhakar Kore hospital & MRC, Belagavi. Patients in the age group of 18 to 50 years of either sex presenting to the out-patient department of orthopedics with features of suspected osteochondral defect of either knee were included. Nine cases that are fulfilling the inclusion/ exclusion criteria were selected. These patients were subjected to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with findings confirmed intraoperatively. All patients underwent surgical intervention with cartilage autograft from non weight bearing areas. Pre- and post-operative outcome were measured using Visual analogue score and Lysholm score with one year follow-up. Results: The mean age of patients affected in our study was 32.7 years. In our study males (77.7%) were more commonly affected than females (22.3%). Right knee (55.5%) was more commonly affected. The mean of maximum size of the osteochondral defect by MRI was 2.2 cm. Follow-up was done at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months and at 1 year. There was statistically significant difference in decrease of VAS score and Lysholm score in all the patients. Interpretation and conclusion: In our study, osteochondral autograft transplantation demonstrated both good short and long term outcomes as assessed by the visual analog scale score and Lysholm score. Thus the study concludes that osteochondral autograft transplantation provides good pain relief and can be considered a safe and effective treatment option.

Keywords: Osteochondral defect; Mosaicoplasty; Autologous cartilage graft.