Donor Site Morbidity After Talar Mosaicplasty: Arthroscopic Medial Femoral Condyle vs Mini-Open Lateral Femoral Condyle Harvesting.

Authors

Amir Sabaghzadeh, Saeed Vosughi, Meisam Jafari Kafiabadi, Saber Barazandeh Rad, Babak Toloue Ghamari, Mohammad Pourmahmoudian, Shobeir Rostami Abousaidi, Pedram Khalighinejad, Mehrdad Sadighi, Adel Ebrahimpour

Published in

Foot & ankle orthopaedics. Volume 11. Issue 3. Pages 24730114261481805. Epub Sep 11, 2026.

Abstract

Osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLTs) are challenging injuries that may require osteochondral autograft transfer for large, cystic, or refractory defects. Although mosaicplasty can restore hyaline cartilage and subchondral bone, donor site morbidity remains a concern. This study compared knee donor site morbidity and ankle functional outcomes after 2 technique-donor site combinations used for talar mosaicplasty: arthroscopic medial femoral condyle harvesting and mini-open lateral femoral condyle harvesting.
In this retrospective comparative cohort study, 40 patients with OLTs who underwent osteochondral autograft transfer were available for final analysis. Nineteen patients underwent arthroscopic harvesting from the medial femoral condyle, and 21 underwent mini-open harvesting from the lateral femoral condyle. The mean follow-up was 28.8 months. Baseline characteristics, lesion morphology, functional outcomes, pain scores, and postoperative complications were compared between groups. Donor site morbidity was assessed using the Lysholm score. Secondary outcomes included the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, Foot and Ankle Outcome Score, Foot and Ankle Ability Measure, visual analog scale pain score, and complication rates.
Baseline demographics, follow-up duration, and measured lesion characteristics were broadly similar between groups; however, the small sample size limits interpretation of baseline comparability. With the available numbers, no significant between-group differences were detected in Lysholm, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, Foot and Ankle Outcome Score, Foot and Ankle Ability Measure activities of daily living or sport subscales, or visual analog scale pain scores (all P > .05). Overall, complications occurred in 5 of 40 patients (12.5%): 2 of 19 patients in the arthroscopic medial femoral condyle group and 3 of 21 patients in the mini-open lateral femoral condyle group, with no statistically significant between-group difference in complication rates (Fisher exact test, P > .99).
In this retrospective cohort, no statistically significant differences were detected between arthroscopic medial femoral condyle and mini-open lateral femoral condyle harvesting for talar mosaicplasty. However, because the surgical approach and donor condyle differed simultaneously, this study cannot isolate the independent effect of approach alone. The limited sample size and wide CIs preclude conclusions regarding equivalence, superiority, or noninferiority.
Level III, retrospective comparative cohort study.

PMID:
42732278
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Sep 2026.

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