Abstract
An osteochondral fracture is considered to be an injury involving the cartilage and subchondral bone. Acute traumatic osteochondral fractures can be related to joint instability because abnormal joint motion causes shearing and rotatory stress. Acute osteochondral fractures are frequently missed or misdiagnosed as a pure soft tissue injury. Thus, surgeons' proactive attention is highly required as articular cartilage has limited potential for self-repair and these lesions may develop osteoarthritis. In order to minimize the progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis, it is important to properly identify and treat osteochondral fractures. Yet, little is known about the operative management of acute osteochondral fractures of the talus. We report here on a case of a middle-aged male with acute osteochondral fractures of the bilateral lateral talar dome. We applied different operative methods on each side with regard to fragment size and stability. A favorable clinical outcome was obtained at 18 months follow-up.