Arthroscopic Debridement and Autologous Micronized Adipose Tissue Injection in the Treatment of Advanced-Stage Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis of the Ankle.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of intra-articular injection of autologous micronized adipose tissue (MAT) with ankle arthroscopic debridement in patients with advanced-stage posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) of ankle.
Design: A retrospective cohort study investigating patients treated with arthroscopic debridement and autologous MAT injection for ankle PTOA was performed. Patients with Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade 3 to 4 were included. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Foot and Ankle Outcome Scores (FAOS), and patient satisfaction were evaluated.
Results: A total of 19 patients (19 ankles) were included (KL grade 3, 8 patients; grade 4, 11 patients). At a mean follow-up time of 14.3 months (range, 7-23 months), the mean FAOS subscales for pain and quality of life significantly increased from 48.8 and 20.1 preoperatively to 61.1 and 30.1 ( P = 0.029 and 0.048, respectively). The mean VAS score significantly improved from 6.1 to 3.8 (P = 0.003) at final follow-up. A total of 10.5% (2/19) of patients were very satisfied, 31.6% (6/19) satisfied, 26.3% (5/19) neutral, 21.1% (4/19) unsatisfied, and 10.5% (2/19) very unsatisfied with their outcomes. The overall FAOS score demonstrated a significant difference in pre- to postoperative change with 14.8 for KL grade 3 and 5.9 for KL grade 4 ( P = 0.048).
Conclusions: Autologous MAT injection is a safe and potentially beneficial procedure for advanced-stage ankle PTOA as an adjunct to arthroscopic debridement, although more than one-third of patients were unsatisfied with the procedure. This procedure may be more beneficial for KL grade 3 patients than grade 4 patients. However, future investigations are necessary to define the role of MAT for ankle PTOA.