Traumatic osteochondral lesions of the talus

Trauma is currently accepted to be the main etiologic factor causing OCL of the talus. Displaced lesions are easily recognized clinically and radiogra phically and treated surgically. In other cases, radiographic findings are often remarkably discrete or even absent. If symptoms persist, surgical treatment is warranted. In our series of 27 p atients with traumatic talar OCL, operative treatment achieved good/excelle nt results in 88% of primary cases and good/excellent results in 80% of rec urrent cases. The interval between trauma and surgery averaged 20 months (6 -60). No radiographic signs of arthritic changes were observed at 2-11 year s follow-up. All lesions were treated by arthroscopic excision, curettage a nd drilling, and this is currently the treatment of choice.