Osgood-Schlatter Disease: Ossicle Resection and Patellar Tendon Repair in a Symptomatic Adult

Abstract

Chronic Osgood-Schlatter disease can cause significant knee pain and can result in severe functional deficits. For large, painful Osgood-Schlatter disease ossicles refractory to conservative management, surgical ossicle excision can provide resolution of symptoms. After diagnostic arthroscopy and intra-articular debridement, our preferred excision technique uses an open incision for direct visualization and removal of intratendinous ossicles, followed by distal patellar tendon repair and subsequent fixation with FiberTape sutures and knotless anchors to the tibial tubercle.

Fig 1

Preoperative lateral radiograph of the left knee with a nonunited Osgood-Schlatter ossicle at the tibial tubercle (yellow arrow).

Fig 2

Excised Osgood-Schlatter ossicles from the left knee of a 43-year-old male patient with adult-onset Osgood-Schlatter disease. The ossicle was taken to the back table and measured at 1.5 cm × 2 cm.

Fig 3

Suture anchor fixation for patellar tendon repair using 2 PEEK (polyether ether ketone) SwiveLock suture anchors (Arthrex, Naples, FL) (yellow arrows). The anchors are placed into the bed of bleeding bone, and the sutures are used to repair the central aspect of the patellar tendon back down to the tibial tubercle.

Fig 4

One-month postoperative lateral radiograph of the left knee after excision of an Osgood-Schlatter ossicle for a 43-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with adult-onset Osgood-Schlatter disease. The yellow arrow shows from where the ossicle was excised.