Unusual appearance of an osteochondral lesion accompanying medial meniscus injury.

Abstract

An osteochondral lesion in the knee joint is caused by a focal traumatic osteochondral defect, osteochondritis dissecans, an isolated degenerative lesion, or diffuse degenerative disease. An osteochondral lesion with a cleft-like appearance accompanying medial meniscus injury is rare without trauma. We report the case of a 13-year-old boy who complained of right knee pain and swelling, with radiographic findings of an osteochondral defect. Arthroscopic inspection showed an osteochondral lesion in the medial condyle of the femur and tibial plateau accompanying a partial medial meniscus discoid tear. Partial meniscectomy was performed, and a microfracture procedure was carried out on the osteochondral defect. The patient was asymptomatic at 2 years' follow-up. This technique is a relatively easy, completely arthroscopic procedure that spares the bone and cartilage and has yielded a good clinical outcome in a skeletally immature patient who had an osteochondral lesion with a cleft-like appearance.