Low rate of return to pre-injury sport level in athletes after cartilage surgery: a 10-year follow-up study

Knee Cartilage Injuries in Football Players: Clinical Outcomes and Return to Sport After Surgical Treatment: A Systematic Review of the Literature

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review the literature and analyze clinical outcomes and return-to-sport after surgical management of cartilage injuries in football players.

DESIGN

A systematic literature review was performed in August 2023 on PubMed, WebOfScience, and Cochrane Library to collect studies on surgical strategies for cartilage lesions in football players. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed with the modified Coleman Methodology score and RoB2 and RoBANS2 tools.

RESULTS

Fifteen studies on 409 football players (86% men, 14% women) were included: nine prospective and two retrospective case series, one randomized controlled trial, one prospective comparative study, one case report, and one survey. Bone marrow stimulation (BMS) techniques were the most documented. The lesion size influenced the treatment choice: debridement was used for small lesions (1.1 cm2), BMS, osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT), matrix-assisted autologous chondrocytes transplantation (MACT), and scaffold-augmented BMS for small/mid-size lesions (2.2-3.0 cm2), and autologous chondrocytes implantation (ACI) for larger lesions (5.8 cm2). The surgical options yielded different results in terms of clinical outcome and return-to-sport, with fastest recovery for debridement and scaffold-augmented BMS. The current evidence is limited with large methodological quality variation (modified Coleman Methodology score 43.5/100) and a high risk of bias.

CONCLUSIONS

Decision-making in cartilage injuries seems to privilege early return-to-sport, making debridement and microfractures the most used techniques. The lesion size influences the treatment choice. However, the current evidence is limited. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and establish a case-based approach to treat cartilage injuries in football players based on the specific patient and lesion characteristics and the treatments' potential in terms of both return-to-sport and long-term results.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Systematic review, level IV.

Satisfactory patient-reported outcomes in patients treated with impaction bone grafting and autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis for osteochondral knee defects

PURPOSE

Osteochondral knee defects usually affect young, active patients and may alter knee biomechanics and progressively lead to joint degeneration. Various treatment options exist with autologous, impaction bone grafting in combination with autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis (BG-AMIC) being a less-expensive, one-step, promising option. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical and radiological mid-term outcomes of large osteochondral lesions treated with BG-AMIC, identify a possible correlation between the two and report postoperative complications and reoperation rate.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 25 patients treated with the BG-AMIC technique for knee osteochondral lesions was performed. Patients were assessed using the following PROMs: the IKDC, the KOOS and the Lysholm score, the Tegner activity scale and a patient acceptable symptom state (PASS). The EQ-5D-5L score was used to assess health-related quality of life. Radiological assessment was performed using the MOCART 2.0 score on a 3 T MRI.

RESULTS

At a mean of 3.8 (± 0.8)-year follow-up, all functional scores increased significantly (p < 0.005) when compared to the preoperative baseline. IKDC increased from 44.5 (± 15.9) to 81.4 (± 14.7), KOOS from 41.5 (± 16.1) to 91.6 (± 11.6) and Lysholm from 54.4 (± 23) to 95.2 (± 5.5) (p < 0.005). The EQ-5D-5L score also revealed a significant improvement [59.9 (± 25) to 93.4 (± 10.2), p < 0.005]. Mean Tegner score reached pre-injury levels. The PASS was positive in 100% of patients. The minimum clinically important difference was reached in all PROMs except for the KOOS Sports subscale. There were no re-operations. Morphological evaluation of the repair tissue using the MOCART 2.0 score revealed a mean total score of 52.8 (± 30.5). A statistically significant, positive correlation was found between the MOCART 2.0 score and the IKDC score, the KOOS ADL subscale and the EQ-5D-5L (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

BG-AMIC is a safe and reliable option for treating deep, knee osteochondral lesions, providing a statistically significant and clinically important improvement in patient-reported outcomes. No complications were noticed, and no re-operations were performed after the procedure. A moderate positive correlation between the MOCART 2.0 score and the IKDC, KOOS ADL and EQ-5D-5L was noticed. However, this correlation is not necessarily clinically relevant, and excellent clinical results can be expected even in patients with low MOCART scores.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

III.

Intra-articular injections in sport-active patients with degenerative cartilage lesions or osteoarthritis of the knee: a systematic review

PURPOSE

The aim of this systematic review was to analyse the available clinical evidence on intra-articular knee injections for the treatment of degenerative cartilage lesions and osteoarthritis (OA) in sport-active patients.

METHODS

A literature search was performed in July 2023 according to the PRISMA guidelines on three electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science). Studies addressing intra-articular injections for degenerative knee cartilage lesions or knee OA in sport-active patients were included. The Downs and Black's "checklist for measuring quality" was used to evaluate risk of bias and quality of the included studies.

RESULTS

Only 10 clinical studies for a total of 296 sport-active patients were included, with a publication trend increasing over time. The studies were 9 case series and 1 RCT; 7 studies focused on hyaluronic acid (HA), 2 studies focused on platelet-rich plasma (PRP), while 1 study compared HA and PRP. Overall, safety and positive clinical findings were for both HA and PRP, although not always with satisfactory results in terms of return to sport. The Downs and Black evaluation showed an overall poor quality of the included studies, with an average score of 21.1 points (range 19-25).

CONCLUSIONS

The available clinical evidence is still limited, with only a few studies published and an overall low-quality of evidence, suggesting a potential role of HA and PRP injections to treat these patients. However, further high-level trials are needed to confirm the real benefits of these treatments for the management of sport-active patients affected by degenerative cartilage lesions or OA of the knee.

Use of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of osteoarthritis: A retrospective long-term follow-up study

Background

Available studies suggest that bone marrow concentrate, highly enriched in mesenchymal stem cells, is a potentially encouraging treatment for knee osteoarthritis. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the clinical outcome in patients affected by this condition after treatment with autologous bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC).

Methods

55 patients who had undergone a single intra-articular injection of BMAC were administered two questionnaires to clinically evaluate their condition based on patient-reported outcome measures before treatment and at follow-up.

Results

Analysis of the data collected indicates that patients experienced improvements in Tegner, VAS and WOMAC scores and that all outcomes at the follow-up improved in a statistically significant manner compared to outcomes at baseline.

Conclusions

The changes observed in the different scores examined suggest that a single BMAC injection seems to be a beneficial and safe treatment for knee osteoarthritis.

Cell-Free Scaffolds in Cartilage Knee Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Evidence

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate current evidence and results of cell-free scaffold techniques for knee chondral lesions.

DESIGN

A systematic review was conducted on 3 medical electronic databases according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines, and the methodological quality was assessed with a modified Coleman Methodology Score. A meta-analysis was performed on the articles reporting results for visual analogue scale (VAS), Lysholm, and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scores. In order to investigate the clinical results improvement over time of cell-free cartilage scaffold implantation, all scores were reported and analyzed as improvement from basal scores at 1, 2, and ≥3 years' follow-up.

RESULTS

A total of 23 studies involving 521 patients were included in the qualitative data synthesis. The Coleman score showed an overall poor study quality with the majority of studies reporting results at short-/mid-term follow-up. Sixteen studies were included in the meta-analysis, showing a significant improvement from basal score at 1, 2, and ≥3 years' follow-up. The improvement reached at 1 year remained stable up to the last follow-up for all scores.

CONCLUSIONS

The current literature suggests that cell-free scaffolds may provide good clinical short-/mid-term results; however, the low evidence of the published studies and their short mean follow-up demand further evidence before more definitive conclusions can be drawn on their real potential over time and on their advantages and disadvantages compared to the cell-based strategies for the treatment of cartilage lesions.

Matrix-assisted chondrocyte transplantation with bone grafting for knee osteochondritis dissecans: stable results at 12 years

PURPOSE

To document clinical and radiological results of arthroscopic matrix-assisted autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT) combined with bone grafting for the treatment of knee osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) at long-term follow-up.

METHODS

Thirty-one knees in 29 patients (20.4 ± 5.7 years) were treated for symptomatic unfixable OCD lesions (2.6 ± 1.1 cm²) and prospectively evaluated at 2, 5, and 12 years (average, minimum 10 years). Patients were evaluated over time with IKDC subjective score, EQ-VAS, and Tegner scores. Failures were also documented. At the final follow-up, MRI evaluation was performed in 14 knees with the MOCART 2.0 score.

RESULTS

Beside 4 early failures, an overall clinical improvement was documented: the IKDC subjective score improved from 39.9 ± 16.8 to 82.1 ± 17.0 and 84.8 ± 17.2 at 2 and 5 years, respectively (p < 0.0005), and remained stable for up to 12 years (85.0 ± 20.2). EQ-VAS and Tegner scores presented similar trends, but patients did not reach their original activity level. Worse results were obtained for lesions bigger than 4 cm². At MRI evaluation, subchondral bone abnormalities were detected in over 85% of knees at long-term follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Arthroscopic bone grafting followed by MACT for unfixable knee OCD can offer a promising and stable clinical outcome over time in lesions smaller than 4 cm², with a low failure rate of 13%. Persistent subchondral alterations were documented at long-term MRI evaluation, suggesting the limits of this approach to regenerate the osteochondral unit in patients affected by knee OCD.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.

Third-Generation Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation at the Knee Joint Using the Igor Scaffold: A Case Series With 2-Year Follow-up

Background:

For large, locally restricted cartilage defects in young patients, third-generation matrix-supported autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) with a variety of scaffolds has shown good mid- to long-term results.

Purpose/Hypothesis:

This study aimed to monitor the clinical and radiological outcomes of patients who received ACI at the knee joint using the Igor scaffold (IGOR–Institute for Tissue and Organ Reconstruction) at 2-year follow-up. Our hypothesis was that there would be improvements in postoperative subjective scores and cartilage repair tissue quality.

Study Design:

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods:

A total of 21 patients (12 male and 9 female) were available for 2-year follow-up after third-generation ACI using the Igor scaffold. All were clinically assessed using the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Tegner Activity Scale, Brittberg score, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Subjective Knee Form, Noyes Sports Activity Rating Scale, and visual analog scale for pain. For morphological evaluation, the magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) and MOCART 2.0 scores were calculated using 3-T magnetic resonance imaging performed at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. Results were compared between baseline and 24 months postoperatively.

Results:

After 2 years, the clinical and radiological scores showed good to excellent results in the majority of patients. On the IKDC, 10 patients were graded as excellent, 4 as good, 5 as fair, and 2 as severe; on the KOOS, 7 patients were graded as excellent, 8 as good, 4 as fair, and 2 as severe. From baseline to latest follow-up, visual analog scale pain scores decreased from 5.6 ± 3.2 (mean ± SD) to 1.5 ± 2; KOOS results increased from 51 ± 20.7 to 75.2 ± 15.4; and the Tegner score improved from 2.2 ± 1.8 to 4.3 ± 1.3. The MOCART and MOCART 2.0 scores were comparable at 2-year follow-up, with mean values of 74 ± 10 and 78 ± 13, respectively. Satisfactory filling and integration were found in 90.5%. Overall, 16 of 21 patients (76.1%) were satisfied with the surgery and would undergo the procedure again.

Conclusion:

Third-generation ACI using the Igor scaffold showed improvements in clinical and radiological results that were comparable with other scaffolds for patients with large traumatic or degenerative cartilage defects. Patients reported a decrease in pain and an increase in activity, with the majority reporting good results.

Return-to-Sport Review for Current Cartilage Treatments

The return to play outcome is an important measure for orthopaedic sports medicine treatments. This variable is especially important when discussing cartilage treatments because there are many different cartilage options available to athletes with articular injuries and this population is particularly interested in the ability to return to activities. Although many outcome variables are considered in any surgical procedure, the return-to-sport variable is focused on an active population and can be tailored to that patient's sport-specific goals. In this article, we will review some of the most recent and up-to-date articles describing return-to-sport outcomes for various knee cartilage treatments. This article will focus on the most common current knee cartilage treatments including microfracture, autologous chondrocyte implantation, osteochondral autograft transplant, and osteochondral allograft transplantation.

Sporting participation following the operative management of chondral defects of the knee at mid-term follow up: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review of the reparticipation in sport at mid-term follow up in athletes who underwent biologic treatment of chondral defects in the knee and compare the rates amongst different biologic procedures.

METHODS

A search of PubMed/Medline and Embase was performed in May 2020 in keeping with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The criteria for inclusion were observational, published research articles studying the outcomes and rates of participation in sport following biologic treatments of the knee with a minimum mean/median follow up of 5 years. Interventions included microfracture, osteochondral autograft transfer (OAT), autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI), osteochondral allograft, or platelet rich plasma (PRP) and peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC). A random effects model of head-to-head evidence was used to determine rates of sporting participation following each intervention.

RESULTS

There were twenty-nine studies which met the inclusion criteria with a total of 1276 patients (67% male, 33% female). The mean age was 32.8 years (13-69, SD 5.7) and the mean follow up was 89 months (SD 42.4). The number of studies reporting OAT was 8 (27.6%), ACI was 6 (20.7%), MACI was 7 (24.1%), microfracture was 5 (17.2%), osteochondral allograft was 4 (13.8%), and one study (3.4%) reported on PRP and PBSC. The overall return to any level of sport was 80%, with 58.6% returning to preinjury levels. PRP and PBSC (100%) and OAT (84.4%) had the highest rates of sporting participation, followed by allograft (83.9%) and ACI (80.7%). The lowest rates of participation were seen following MACI (74%) and microfracture (64.2%).

CONCLUSIONS

High rates of re-participation in sport are sustained for at least 5 years following biologic intervention for chondral injuries in the knee. Where possible, OAT should be considered as the treatment of choice when prolonged participation in sport is a priority for patients. However, MACI may achieve the highest probability of returning to the same pre-injury sporting level.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.

Platelet-Rich Plasma for Sport-Active Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: Limited Return to Sport

Objective

To evaluate a cohort of sport-active patients suffering from cartilage degeneration and OA, in terms of clinical outcome and return to sport (RTS) after platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injective treatment.

Design

This study included forty-seven sport-active patients ≤50 years old with unilateral symptomatic knee cartilage degeneration or OA. Patients received 3 PRP injections and were prospectively evaluated at baseline and then at 2, 6, 12, and 24 months follow-up by IKDC subjective EQ-VAS, and Tegner scores. Furthermore, patients were asked about their RTS, in terms of return to any sport level or to their activity level before symptoms onset.

Results

IKDC subjective score improved significantly at all follow-ups, changing from 59.2 ± 13.6 to 70.6 ± 13 at 12 months and to 76.7 ± 12.5 at 24 months (p < 0.0005). A similar outcome was observed with the EQ-VAS score. Tegner score improved from 3.6 ± 1.4 to 4.8 ± 0.9 at 24 months (p < 0.0005). A similar outcome was observed with the EQ-VAS score. Tegner score improved from 3.6 ± 1.4 to 4.8 ± 0.9 at 24 months (p < 0.0005). A similar outcome was observed with the EQ-VAS score. Tegner score improved from 3.6 ± 1.4 to 4.8 ± 0.9 at 24 months (p < 0.0005). A similar outcome was observed with the EQ-VAS score. Tegner score improved from 3.6 ± 1.4 to 4.8 ± 0.9 at 24 months (

Conclusions

Sport-active patients affected by knee OA can benefit from PRP injections, with pain and function improvement over time. However, results are less satisfactory in terms of RTS since only half can achieve the same sport level as before the onset of symptoms. Patients undergoing PRP treatment should be made aware of their low chances to go back to high-impact sport activities.

High Rate of Failure After Matrix-Assisted Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation in Osteoarthritic Knees at 15 Years of Follow-up

BACKGROUND

Chondral and osteochondral lesions in osteoarthritic knees of young patients remain challenging for orthopaedic surgeons, due to a combination of high functional demands and limited indications for joint replacement in this population. The possibility of extending the indication of cartilage regenerative procedures to these patients may allow the delay of metal resurfacing.

PURPOSE

To analyze the potential of a cartilage regenerative approach to provide clinical benefits in young patients with osteoarthritic knees, documenting outcomes in terms of clinical improvement as well as failures, in particular regarding knee replacement, at long-term follow-up.

STUDY DESIGN

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

METHODS

A total of 41 patients (mean ± SD age, 43 ± 9 years) who had cartilage lesions (4 ± 2 cm²) in osteoarthritic knees (Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2 or 3) underwent matrix-assisted autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT) as a salvage procedure. Patients were evaluated with International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), EuroQol visual analog scale (EQ-VAS), and Tegner scores before surgery; at 1, 2, 5, and 9 years after surgery; and at a final follow-up at a mean of 15 years after surgery (range, 14-18 years). Failures were also recorded.

RESULTS

An improvement was observed in all scores after surgery, but a progressive worsening over time was noted. The mean ± SD IKDC score improved from 38.6 ± 16.2 to a maximum of 66.0 ± 18.6 at 2 years (P < .0005), with a subsequent deterioration until the final evaluation at 56.2 ± 21.7 (P = .024). A similar trend was confirmed by EQ-VAS scores. Tegner scores improved at all follow-up points but did not reach the preinjury level. Patients who underwent combined surgery obtained significantly lower results. Only 13 patients (32%) had an IKDC score higher than 70. During the follow-up period, 21 patients underwent reoperation (18 with knee replacement) and 3 more patients experienced clinical failure, for a total surgical and clinical failure rate of 59% at 15 years.

CONCLUSION

The use of cartilage regenerative surgical procedures, such as MACT, as salvage procedures for young, active patients affected by chondral and osteochondral lesions in osteoarthritic knees led to a limited improvement, with the majority of patients experiencing failure at long-term follow-up. Although a minor subpopulation experienced favorable and stable improvement, the use of MACT for such a challenging indication remains questionable until responding patients can be profiled.