What causes osteochondral lesions of the talus?

Causes of Osteochondral Lesion of the Talus Osteochondral lesions are usually caused by an injury, such as an ankle sprain, which damages the cartilage and forces it to soften and slowly break off. A broken piece of cartilage may remain in the ankle, causing an osteochondral lesion to occur.

How long does it take for an osteochondral lesion to heal?

The recovery period after an osteochondral lesion usually lasts six months to a year. Typically, you progress from range-of-motion exercises to light cardiovascular exercise and then strengthening exercises. If you experience episodes of minor swelling or pain while exercising, have your physician examine your ankle.

How is osteochondral lesion of the talus treated?

The widely published treatment strategies of symptomatic osteochondral lesions include the non-surgical treatment with rest or cast immobilization, and surgical excision of the lesion, excision and curettage, excision combined with curettage and drilling/microfracturing (i.e., bone marrow stimulation, BMS), placement …

Can osteochondral lesion heal on its own?

In general, osteochondral lesions do not heal on their own. Treatment is usually determined by the stability of the lesion and the amount of pain that it causes you. For small cartilage lesions, especially in younger patients, doctors typically prescribe immobilization with a removable cast, called a cam walker.

What causes a talar dome lesion?

Talar dome lesions are usually caused by an injury, such as an ankle sprain. If the cartilage does not heal properly following the injury, it softens and begins to break off. Sometimes a broken piece of the damaged cartilage and bone will float in the ankle.

What are talar osteochondral lesions?

An osteochondral lesion of the talus (OLT) is an area of abnormal, damaged cartilage and bone on the top of the talus bone (the lower bone of the ankle joint). This condition is also known as osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the talus or a talar osteochondral lesion (OCL).

What is a talar dome lesion?

A talar dome lesion is an injury to the cartilage and underlying bone of the talus within the ankle joint. It is also called an osteochondral defect (OCD) or osteochondral lesion of the talus (OLT). “Osteo” means bone and “chondral” refers to cartilage.

How do you fix osteochondral lesions?

The common treatment strategies of symptomatic OLTs include nonsurgical treatment with rest, cast immobilisation and use of NSAIDs; surgical treatment includes surgical excision of the lesion, excision and curettage, excision combined with curettage and microfracturing, filling of the defect with autogenous cancellous …

What causes talar dome lesion?

Is osteochondral lesion serious?

In summary. Osteochondral lesions of the talus are a reasonably infrequent cause of long-standing ankle pain and stiffness and are often the result of a severe ankle sprain type injury.

Is a talar dome lesion a fracture?

Talar dome injuries such as osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT) can occur following an ankle injury, resulting in ongoing residual ankle pain and functional disability. Initially, OLT was described and classified as ‘transchondral fractures of the talus’ by Berndt and Harty in 1959(1).

What is a talar contusion?

Osteochondral lesions are injuries to the talus (the bottom bone of the ankle joint). These injuries range from mild bruising to more severe damage such as blistering of the cartilage layers, cyst-like lesions within the bone, or fracture of the cartilage and bone layers.

Can a Talar OCL be diagnosed on a MRI?

Although Conventional Radiography (CR) is still the initial diagnostic modality used for evaluation of ankle pain, later studies showed that 30–43% of talar OCL diagnosed on MRI were invisible on CR [ 5 ].

Which is the best MRI for osteochondral lesions?

Although Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at 1.5 Tesla is the leading cross-sectional modality for detection and staging of OCL, lack of spatial resolution hampers accurate assessment of thin articular cartilage. Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) arthrography is better suited for precise staging of cartilage lesions.

How is Mr staging of OCL done on MRI?

Nowadays MR staging of OCL on MRI is usually done by the Anderson classification [ 9 ], which is another modification of the initial staging system based on plain film evaluation by Berndt and Harty (Figure 6 ). Schematic drawings of OCL classification according to Anderson. Stage 1 lesions are due to bone marrow contusion.

What are osteochondral lesions of the talus dome?

Journal of the Belgian Society of Radiology. 2017;101 (S2):1. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/jbr-btr.1377 Osteochondral lesions (OCL) of the talus are defined as any damage involving both articular cartilage and subchondral bone of the talar dome.