Development of cartilage damage on knee mri after anterior cruciate ligament tear: early anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction versus rehabilitation with optional delayed anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction - a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial

Purpose: There is limited evidence to support claims of superiority of early ACL reconstruction versus optional delayed ACL reconstruction in the prevention of cartilage damage. Analysis of semi-quantitative cartilage scores from knee MRI is often done by dichotomizing data into presence or absence on a compartmental basis, which may result in loss of information regarding ordinal grades and subregional assessment, resulting in reduced sensitivity to detect change. Our aim was to explore whether there is any difference in development of cartilage damage on knee MRI after 5 years in ACL-injured knees between patients randomized to early ACL reconstruction versus rehabilitation with optional delayed ACL reconstruction.
Source: Osteoarthritis and Cartilage - Category: Rheumatology Authors: Source Type: research