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Unicondylar Osteoarticular Allografts of the Knee

Surgical Technique

¹ Institute of Orthopedics "Carlos E. Ottolenghi," Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires, Potosí 4247, 1199, Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail address for D.L. Muscolo: luis.muscolo{at}hospitalitaliano.org.ar

Investigation performed at Institute of Orthopedics "Carlos E. Ottolenghi," Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The original scientific article in which the surgical technique was presented was published in JBJS Vol. 89-A, pp. 2137-42, October 2007

DISCLOSURE: The authors did not receive any outside funding or grants in support of their research for or preparation of this work. Neither they nor a member of their immediate families received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, division, center, clinical practice, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors, or a member of their immediate families, are affiliated or associated.

A video supplement to this article has been produced by the Video Journal of Orthopaedics (VJO). This production is included on the bound-in DVD as part of this issue and will also be available in streaming video format at the JBJS website, www.jbjs.org. VJO can be contacted at (805) 962-3410, web site: www.vjortho.com.

METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the results of forty large unicondylar osteoarticular allograft procedures in thirty-eight patients who were followed for a mean of eleven years. Twenty-nine allografts were femoral transplants and included eleven medial and eighteen lateral femoral condyles. Eleven allografts were tibial transplants, including four medial and seven lateral tibial condyles. The procedure was performed after a tumor resection in thirty-six patients and to replace condylar loss after a severe open fracture in the remaining two patients. Complications were analyzed, and allograft survival from the date of implantation to the date of revision or the time of the latest follow-up was determined. Functional and radiographic results were documented according to the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society scoring system at the time of the latest follow-up.

RESULTS: One patient died of tumor-related causes without allograft failure before the two-year follow-up evaluation. The global rate of allograft survival at both five and ten years was 85%, with a mean follow-up of 148 months. In six patients, the allografts were removed at an average of twenty-six months (range, six to forty-eight months) and these were considered failures. All six patients underwent a second allograft procedure including two new unicondylar and four bicondylar reconstructions. The mean radiographic score for the thirty-three surviving allografts evaluated was 89%, with an average functional score of 27 of a possible 30 points.

CONCLUSIONS: Unicondylar osteoarticular allografts of the knee appear to be a reliable alternative for patients in whom reconstruction of massive osteoarticular bone loss is limited to one condyle of the femur or tibia.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

ORIGINAL ABSTRACT CITATION: "Unicondylar Osteoarticular Allografts of the Knee" (2007;89:2137-42).

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