Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2025, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (21): 4584-4592.doi: 10.12307/2025.818

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Personalized combination of treatment options for osteochondral lesions of the talus

Chen Xueming1, She Chang2   

  1. 1Department of Foot and Ankle Surgery, Wuxi Ninth People’s Hospital (Wuxi Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Soochow University), Wuxi 214000, Jiangsu Province, China; 2Department of Orthopedics, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Received:2024-04-15 Accepted:2024-07-20 Online:2025-07-28 Published:2024-12-07
  • Contact: She Chang, MD, Chief physician, Department of Orthopedics, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, Jiangsu Province, China
  • About author:Chen Xueming, Associate chief physician, Department of Foot and Ankle Surgery, Wuxi Ninth People’s Hospital (Wuxi Ninth Hospital Affiliated to Soochow University), Wuxi 214000, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82070904 (to SC) 

Abstract: BACKGROUND: For the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus, different treatment methods are adopted according to different types or clinical symptoms, including rehabilitation treatment, surgical treatment and biological agent treatment. Most of the rehabilitation treatment relieved the symptoms and delayed the disease in a short time. In recent years, arthroscopic microfractures, kirschner wire drilling, talus cartilage transplantation, autologous osteochondrocyte transplantation, stem cell transplantation, and biological preparation platelet-rich plasma can achieve good results.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the progress in the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus and provide a reference for their clinical treatment. 
METHODS: Using English search terms “talus, osteochondral lesions of the talus” and Chinese search terms “microfracture, transplantation, platelet-rich plasma, stem cell,” we searched the PubMed and CNKI databases for related articles published from January 2019 to January 2024. A total of 67 articles were included for comprehensive analysis. 
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) There are many ways to treat osteochondral lesions of the talus. Conservative rehabilitation and biological agents can alleviate the condition for Hepple type I and II lesions. Microfracture or Kirschner wire drilling bone marrow stimulation treatment is used for Hepple type III and above and lesion diameter < 15 mm, but the long-term efficacy is poor. Replacement and regeneration strategies are used for larger lesions, and transplant failure is the main risk. (2) Biological agent treatment is a new treatment method and is often used in combination therapy. (3) In view of the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus, many factors such as the area and location of cartilage injury should be taken into account. The selection of the treatment plan should also take into account the level of medical technology, patient acceptance, economic status and other factor. Personalized combination treatment of various schemes is recommended to achieve good results.

中国组织工程研究杂志出版内容重点:人工关节;骨植入物;脊柱骨折;内固定;数字化骨科;组织工程

Key words: "> , talus, osteochondral lesions of the talus, microfracture, transplantation, platelet-rich plasma, stem cell

CLC Number: