Osteochondral Lesion

Often occurring after an ankle sprain, an osteochondral lesion is a treatable injury of the cartilage

A patient with an osteochondral lesion will often feel a dull ache in the ankle joint and may also experience a mild locking or clicking of their ankle joint. The affected joint may also seem to be loose. In the ankle, osteochondral lesions usually occur on the talus, which is the bone that connects the leg to the foot. These lesions are a fracture in the cartilage covering one of the bones in a joint. The cartilage can be torn, crushed or damaged and, in rare cases, a cyst can form in the cartilage.

In the ankle, osteochondral lesions usually occur on the talus, which is the bone that connects the leg to the foot.

We offer a proven treatment for osteochondral lesion

Both ankle sprains and ankle fractures can result in damage to the ankle joint cartilage. When the cartilage damage is isolated – similar to a pothole in the road – the cartilage can be replaced with allograft of juvenile cartilage tissue. The advantage of a graft using this special tissue is that  it contains ten times more of healing cells called chondrocytes. These cells restore functionality and enhance healing of the ankle joint cartilage. It has proven effective in thousands of surgeries with no reports of rejection. Dr. Marc Frankel has performed this innovative repair – which fills the hole in the cartilage – many times and patients demonstrate quicker healing with smooth movement of the ankle joint without pain, swelling or “clicking”.