A Multicenter, Retrospective, Case Series of Patients With Charcot Neuroarthropathy Deformities Undergoing Arthrodesis Utilizing Recombinant Human Platelet-derived Growth Factor With Beta-Tricalcium Phosphate

Charcot neuroarthropathy has traditionally been treated using both nonsurgical and surgical strategies. Recently, orthobiologics have been used to promote arthrodesis in Charcot reconstructions, obviating the need for bone graft in some cases. Recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor BB homodimer (rhPDGF-BB) in combination with beta-tricalcium phosphate scaffold (β-TCP) is a bone graft substitute shown to have comparable efficacy to autograft in incidence of foot and ankle fusion. This multicenter, consecutive case series analyzed patients undergoing Charcot reconstructions utilizing rhPDGF-BB/β-TCP for joint fusion. In this cohort, 98 patients (62.24% male) with a mean age of 62.82 ± 10.28 years (range 40-87) had a fusion incidence of 217 of 223 joints (97.31%) with a mean time to fusion of 13.09 ± 4.87 weeks (range 6-30). There were 6 nonunions in the patient population. Fusion was defined as ≥50% osseous bridging based on computed tomography and/or radiographic consolidation, in addition to clinical findings. With an overall complication rate of 26.53% (26/98), adverse events occurring in more than 1 patient limb included hardware failures (n = 7, 7.14%), infection (n = 4, 4.08%), wound dehiscence (n = 4, 4.08%), amputation (n = 3, 3.06%), and death (n = 2, 2.04%). There were no adverse events related to the grafting material. From this review, we found rhPDGF-BB/β-TCP to be a safe and effective graft material that can be considered a viable alternative to autograft, even in high-risk patients such as those with Charcot neuroarthropathy.