Do you have pain and swelling in the ankle and hear popping and/or clicking sounds? You could have an Osteochondral lesion of the Talus. Visiting your local foot and ankle specialist will give you a better indication of what exactly is happening, after they run tests like x-rays. Sometimes more advanced imaging may be required such as a CT or a MRI. From there they will determine if you do truly have an Osteochondral lesion of the ankle.

But what is it??

An OCD lesion of the ankle is a fracture of the cartilage. Normally cartilage provides for smooth movement in joints, but when fractured it can cause pain and popping noises as that cartilage moves around in the ankle.

How does it occur?

It usually happens from a traumatic injury to the ankle. This situation may arise if your ankle is unstable or misaligned. Let’s deep-dive to understand talus and talus injury:

What are Talus and Talar dome injuries?

The talus is a bone of your foot, together with a tibia, and fibula hat makes up your ankle joint. Talus is a dome-shaped area, and it is totally covered by the cartilages that allows for smooth joint movement. In a talus injury, this cartilage can be torn or fractured whenever your ankle joint gets damaged or hurt and causes the talus's osteochondral lesion.

In some cases, the piece of talus cartilage might break off but remain there. Another name for this ailment is a talar dome lesion. This condition may cause severe ankle pain and swelling, and if not treated on time, it can permanently damage the joint.

What are the symptoms of OCD lesion ankle?

In an osteochondral lesion, the symptoms develop gradually and slowly. Following are its symptoms

• Swelling
• Ankle giving out
• catching or clicking sensation when walking
• chronic pain

Treatments of the OCD lesion ankle

So there are two types of treatment that you can follow or your doctor suggests:

• Conservative care management
• Surgical management

Conservative Care Managements

The conservative or non-surgical treatment is effective when the doctor diagnoses the Talus injury early. These treatments include but are not limited to:

• wearing a brace or cast to minimize stress and promote the healing of the ankle
• Physical therapy
• Steroid injections
• also, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Surgical management

If the primary treatment is ineffective and the condition worsens, the doctor may recommend surgery. It is a must to restore the movement and alleviate the pain.

• Ankle arthroscopy to clean and clear ankle joint of damaged cartilage. Arthroscopy is not an invasive procedure that needs limited incisions and causes less pain and speedy recovery.
• Bone/Cartialge grafting

The Timeline for recovery: OCD lesion ankle

• The recovery time after the Talus lesion is from 6 months to one year. The motion exercises to light CVS exercises can straighten the joint.
• For 2 or 3 days after surgery, most people are advised to stay off their feet and take rest. You might be capable of moving around after about 3 days.

For more information, please consult with our podiatrist at Harlis Family Foot and Ankle.