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

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

Methods: 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.

Results: 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 cm 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 cm to 3.7 cm according to the literature.

Conclusions: 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.

Clinical Relevance: 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.