Objectives: While osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation for tibiofemoral chondral lesions has been extensively studied, there is limited literature on outcomes following patellofemoral (PF) OCA transplantation, especially for the treatment of bipolar PF chondral lesions. This study aimed to compare graft failure rates, reoperation, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) between patients undergoing unipolar and bipolar PF OCA transplantation with a minimum follow-up of two years. Methods: A retrospective review of PF OCA transplantations between 2015-2022 at a single institution was performed. Those with concomitant tibiofemoral OCA transplantation or 0.99) and survivorship did not significantly differ ( p = 0.16), with 100% unipolar and 91.7% bipolar grafts surviving 2-4 years postoperatively ( Figure 1 ). Reoperation-free survival was non-significantly lower among bipolar patients (92% in unipolar and bipolar at 2 years, 92% vs 76% at 3 years, and 92% vs 57% at 4.7 years, p = 0.15). PRO improvements from baseline at final follow-up were similar ( Figure 2 ). No significant differences in IKDC ( p = 0.74), KOOS Pain ( p = 0.64), and KOOS Sports ( p = 0.33) MCID achievement were observed ( Figure 3 ). Conclusions: Bipolar and unipolar PF OCA transplantation both yielded excellent and comparable graft survivorship and clinically significant functional improvement at short- to mid-term follow-up.
Augustin et al. (2026) studied this question.