title: Arthroscopic treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus.
abstract: We reviewed, retrospectively, 65 patients who had undergone arthroscopic treatment for osteochondral lesions of the talus. The 46 men and 19 women with a mean age at operation of 34.25 years, were followed up for a mean of 3.5 years. The medial aspect was affected in 45 patients and the lateral aspect in 20. All the lateral lesions and 35 (75%) of the medial lesions were traumatic in origin. Medial lesions presented later than lateral lesions (3 v 1.5 years) and had a much greater incidence of cystic change (46% v 8%). At follow-up, 34 patients had achieved a good result, and 17 and 14 fair and poor results, respectively. Of the 14 poor results, 13 involved medial lesions. Cystic lesions had a poor outcome in 53% of patients. Excision and curettage led to better results than excision and drilling of the base. Further arthroscopic surgery for patients with a poor result was disappointing. There was no association between outcome and the patient's age.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010007:Osteochondritis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013628:Talus / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome