Osteochondritis dissecans is a painful fragmentation of an articular surface. This problem most commonly occurs in the knee joint. It also can effect the capitellum of the elbow and the talar bone of the ankle, but injuries to these are very rare. There are three levels of OCD. Category 1 includes girls 11 and under and boys 13 and younger. Category 2 includes females 12 to 20 and males 14 to 20. Category 3 includes all patients over the age of 20. People are usually effected while in their teenage years, but may grow later in life to a bigger problem. Men are three times more prone to this then women.
Causes for OCD are uncertain. But studies show that 40% of patients that had OCD has had some history of major or repetitive knee injury. The other 60% of patients that had OCD participate in a high level of athletic activity. There can also be other things such as biomechanical malalignment and internal derangement.
OCD can cause pain when rotating the knee side to side. An effect of OCD is that when the patient walks the leg will be externally rotated. Even though the patient has OCD they will probably still obtain full range of motion, unless a loose body causes mechanical locking. Patients who have OCD will feel pain when they flex their leg to 30¡
There are to ways to treat OCD. There is the conservative treatment and the surgical treatment. The conservative treatment is usually done with the juveniles and young adults. The treatment is modification of activity to promote bone healing. There are an initial 1 to 2 week period of immobilization and minimal weight-bearing is helpful to control pain and initiate healing. Surgical treatment will take place in the juvenile or young adult if the conservative treatment fails to reduce swelling or healing has not started after 12 weeks. The surgical method is performed to promote healing at the junction of the fragment's subchondral bone and the underlying bony base, and to restore a normal, smooth articular suface.