Effect of cartilage thickness mismatch in osteochondral grafting from knee to talus on articular contact pressures: A finite element analysis

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect cartilage thickness mismatch on tibiotalar articular contact pressure in osteochondral grafting from femoral condyles medial talar dome using a finite element analysis (FEA). Materials and methods: Flush-implanted performed centromedial aspect plugs with two different thicknesses. One had an equal recipient second plug thicker representing harvested knee. ankle joint loaded during single-leg stance phase gait. Tibiotalar pressure, frictional stress, equivalent stress (von Mises values), deformation were analyzed. Results: In both simulations, values) tibial surfaces restored near-normal values. Conclusion: Cartilage does not significantly change biomechanics, when graft is inserted flush surface.