Summary

Injury to the articular cartilage and subchondral bone of the talar dome rarely heals without treatment, and nonsurgical treatment is successful only 45% of the time. Neither approach is recommended for osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLTs), which are best treated by arthroscopic bone marrow stimulation with microfracture surgery, particularly for symptomatic OLTs <15 mm in diameter. This article discusses a comparison of delayed and early weight-bearing postoperative regimens for patients treated by microfracture for small to midsized OLTs.