Functional and radiographic outcome of stable juvenile osteochondritis dissecans of the knee treated with retroarticular drilling without bone grafting.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functional and radiographic outcome of retroarticular drilling for patients with juvenile osteochondritis dissecans after 6 months of unsuccessful nonoperative treatment.

METHODS: A total of 20 osteochondritis dissecans lesions in 12 skeletally immature patients were treated with retroarticular drilling without bone grafting. There were 10 boys and 2 girls with a mean age of 12.0 years (range, 9 to 15 years). The functional outcomes were evaluated by use of the Lysholm score at a mean follow-up of 2.7 years after drilling, and healing of the lesions was confirmed by use of plain radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging.

RESULTS: The mean Lysholm score significantly improved postoperatively (from 72.3 to 95.8). All lesions except 1 healed after retroarticular drilling. Healing was achieved at a mean of 4.4 months on plain radiographs and 7.6 months on magnetic resonance imaging.

CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that retroarticular drilling without bone grafting leads to improved clinical outcomes and high healing rates. We advocate retroarticular drilling for patients with stable juvenile osteochondritis dissecans of the knee whose initial nonoperative treatment has failed.