Treatment outcomes of mosaicplasty followed by postoperative hyaluronic acid injection in patients with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the knee

Aim: Mosaicplasty is a common surgical technique performed in patients with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the knee. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effectivity of mosaicplasty followed by intraarticular hyaluronic acid (HA) injection on the functional outcomes of the knee joint in patients with osteochondral lesions of the knee. Methods: The retrospective study included 41 patients (32 men and 9 women) that underwent mosaicplasty due to the detection of an OCD lesion larger than 1 cm2 on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The patients were randomly divided into HA (n=22) and control (n=19) groups. The HA group received 2 ml of HA injection at two weeks after surgery and the control group received no additional treatment. At postoperative months 6 and 12, functional outcomes of the patients were graded using the Lysholm knee score and pain intensity was assessed using Visual Analog Scale (VAS) in both groups. Results: The HA group included 22 (53.7%) and the control group included 19(46.3%) patients. The mean age was 31.5 in the HA group and 31.47 years in the control group. The Lysholm scores at postoperative months 6 and 12 were significantly higher in the HA group compared to the control group (p<0.01). Similarly, the VAS scores at postoperative months 6 and 12 were significantly higher in the HA group compared to the control group (p<0.01). Conclusion: The administration of mosaicplasty followed by instant intraarticular HA injection led to better clinical outcomes and less postoperative pai