Two years after ACL rupture, early degenerative changes were assessed on MRI. Concomitant medial cartilage defect and meniscal injury, male sex, persistent bone marrow lesions in the medial tibiofemoral compartment, and joint effusion are risk factors for degenerative changes.
BackgroundAnterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is an important risk factor for development of knee osteoarthritis (OA). To identify those ACL injured patients at increased risk for knee OA, it is necessary to understand risk factors for OA.AimTo summarise the evidence for determinants of (1) tibiofemoral OA and (2) patellofemoral OA in ACL injured patients.MethodsMEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and CINAHL databases were searched up to 20 December 2013. Additionally, reference lists of eligible studies were manually and independently screened by two reviewers. 2348 studies were assessed for the following main inclusion criteria: ≥20 patients; ACL injured patients treated operatively or non-operatively; reporting OA as outcome; description of relationship between OA outcome and determinants; and a follow-up period ≥2 years. Two reviewers extracted the data, assessed the risk of bias and performed a best-evidence synthesis.ResultsSixty-four publications were included and assessed for quality. Two studies were classified as low risk of bias. Medial meniscal injury/meniscectomy showed moderate evidence for influencing OA development (tibiofemoral OA and compartment unspecified). Lateral meniscal injury/meniscectomy showed moderate evidence for no relationship (compartment unspecified), as did time between injury and reconstruction (tibiofemoral and patellofemoral OA).ConclusionsMedial meniscal injury/meniscectomy after ACL rupture increased the risk of OA development. In contrast, it seems that lateral meniscal injury/meniscectomy has no relationship with OA development. Our results suggest that time between injury and reconstruction does not influence patellofemoral and tibiofemoral OA development. Many determinants showed conflicting and limited evidence and no determinant showed strong evidence.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.