Patellar damage during osteochondritis dissecans of the knee is rare.

There were two objectives to this study: evaluate the functional results of surgical treatment by mosaicplasty in this disease as well as evaluate articular surface reconstruction and cylindrical bone plugs incorporation.

Six consecutive cases of patella osteochondritis dissecans in young athletes were treated using mosaicplasty by the same senior surgeon between 2002 and 2007.

All these cases presented ICRS stage IV osteochondritis dissecans with an empty defect lesion. The average age at diagnosis was 20.5 ± 9.2 years old. The pre- and post-operative clinical evaluation was based on the IKDC subjective knee evaluation, the Lysholm and Tegner scores, CT arthrography and MRI.

Evaluation of the functional results of surgical treatment at a mean follow-up of 26 months showed an average IKDC subjective evaluation score of 66.3, a Lysholm score of 85 and a Tegner score of 5.7 (37.2, 58.3 and 3.5 respectively before surgery). The radiological evaluation showed articular surface reconstruction with satisfying congruency and good incorporation of the graft into the bone at the receptor site, except in one patient in whom a 5mm diameter cartilage defect and a loose body were identified.

Osteochondral grafting with the mosaicplasty technique has been shown to be effective and give satisfying functional results. The problem of the per-operative cylindrical bone plugs choice requires to be addressed during the procedure course itself, according to the patella lesion location.