I am wondering if anyone else has been diagnosed with a medial osteochondral defect (5x2 mm) with a (8mm) bone cyst. If so did you have repair, what repair, and was it successful?
I just got my CT scan results back. I had no acute trauma to the ankle but I did have stress fracture in the same leg about two years ago.
Currently I am in a boot but I am being advised to see a surgeon. My ankle was locking up, frequently and becoming painful; however, I was hoping to avoid any
invasive procedures. All that being said, if surgery is the only way to go, then I will obviously proceed.
Initially I began seeing this podiatrist to work on a toe deformation, which led to orthotics, which led to these new symptoms of ankle pain and locking. Currently I am doing very little running (or in the past few months) but have increased my cycling and swimming.
The physician I am seeing believes the bone cyst is the bigger problem as it could “shatter”. I am completely unfamiliar with this, my specialty is cardiology so any help would be wonderful.
You will likely get a recommendation for an ankle scope, especially with your history of “locking”. You did not mention any joint mouse/floating fragment, but these need to be removed if present. There are also options such as an OATS procedure and microfracture surgery that you can discuss with your surgeon. The medial lesions are a bit more difficult to get at then lateral lesions via arthroscopy without an osteotomy.
Thanks for the quick response rroof.
I wish I still lived in Cincinnati, I would be a lot more comfortable with this procedure.
Can I follow up by asking how quick the recovery is on an ankle scope? I was really hoping to get back into shape and try to race next year. I have taken two years off and was looking to start back. Is there casting after or could I at least get back into the pool quickly?
Thanks again. you are a great resource here.
I had this problem a number of years ago. I am recovered and back running again but it was a long road. aka 7 years and 3 surgeries. Round 1 was micro fracture surgery that did not fix the problem, round 2 was an OATS procedure that DID fix the problem, round 3 fixed the issues caused by round 2. After round 2 the screws used to reconnect my lower leg bone ended up running the ligaments that ran beneath them creating inflammation that lead to scar tissue and bone spurs. Round 3 took the screws out and cleaned it up. It took about a year after that to really feel mostly better.
Long story short you can get back to normalish but it could take time.
Simple ankle scope recovery is pretty quick (swimming at least dragging a pull buoy in around 10 days). Return to running varies tremendously depending on what is done. There is generally no casting done after.
Associated procedures (microfx, OATS) take MUCH longer to heal, but might be right for you. Discuss with your surgeon your symptoms, goals, activity status, etc. since that can/should change some of the decision making.