Is surgery ever needed for Osgood-Schlatter Disease?
In almost every case surgery is not needed. The reason for this is that the cartilage growth plate eventually stops its growth and fills in with bone. Once this happens, the bone is seeing the stress and not the cartilage. The pain and swelling go away because there is no new growth plate to be injured. If one waits until the adolescent is done growing, the pain almost always goes away. Rarely, the pain persists after the growth of the bones has stopped. Surgery is indicated only if there are bone fragments that did not heal. Surgery is never done on a growing athlete since the growth plate can be damaged. If surgery on an adult is needed, it is usually successful at relieving pain. If pain and swelling persist despite treatment then the athlete should be periodically re-examined by the doctor (See Patient Guide to Good Pain / Bad Pain). If the swelling continues to get bigger and bigger then the patient should be re-evaluated. Edward G. McFarland, M.D. Andrew Cosgarea, M.D.
