Demographics and Injuries Associated With Knee Dislocation: A Prospective Review of 303 Patients.

BACKGROUND: Information on the incidence, injury mechanisms, ligament injury patterns, and associated injuries of knee dislocations is lacking in the literature. There is a need to characterize ligament injury patterns and associated injuries in knee dislocations to avoid missing common associated diagnoses and to plan surgical treatment. PURPOSE: To evaluate patient demographics, ligament injury patterns and associated injury patterns, and associated injuries in patients with knee dislocation. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: A total of 303 patients with knee dislocations treated at a single level 1 trauma center were followed prospectively. Injury mechanism; ligament injury patterns; associated neurovascular, meniscal, and cartilage injuries; and surgical complications were recorded. The Schenck knee dislocation classification was used to classify the ligament injury patterns. RESULTS: The mean age at injury was 37.8 ± 15.3 years. Of the 303 patients included, 65% were male and 35% were female. There was an equal distribution of high-energy and low-energy injuries. Injury to 3 major ligaments was the most common, with Schenck classification type KD III-M constituting 52.4% of the injuries and KD III-L comprising 28.1%. Meniscal injuries and cartilage injuries occurred in 37.3% and 28.3% of patients, respectively. Patients with acute injuries had significantly lower odds of a cartilage injury than those with chronic injuries (odds ratio [OR], 0.28; 95% CI, 0.15-0.50; P < .001). Peroneal nerve injuries were recorded in 19.2% of patients (10.9% partial and 8.3% complete deficit), while vascular injuries were recorded in 5%. The odds of having a common peroneal nerve injury were 42 times greater (P < .001) among those with posterolateral corner injury (KD III-L) than those without. The odds for popliteal artery injury were 9 times greater (P = .001) among those with KD III-L injuries than other ligament injury types. CONCLUSION: Medial-sided bicruciate injuries were the most common injury pattern in knee dislocations. Cartilage injuries were common in chronically treated patients. There was a significant risk of peroneal nerve injury with lateral-sided injuries.

A Randomized Multicenter Trial Comparing Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation with Microfracture: Long-Term Follow-up at 14 to 15 Years.

BACKGROUND: The management of cartilage and osteochondral lesions in the knee remains problematic and controversial. Our group reported the 2-year and 5-year results of a randomized controlled trial comparing autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and microfracture in patients with focal femoral cartilage injuries. The objective of the present study was to report the long-term results. METHODS: Eighty patients with a single symptomatic chronic cartilage defect on the femoral condyle without general osteoarthritis were included in the study at the time of the index operation (January 1999 to February 2000). We used the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS), Lysholm, Short Form-36 (SF-36), and Tegner forms to collect data at the time of inclusion and at follow-up evaluations. Standing weight-bearing radiographs were evaluated for evidence of osteoarthritis according to the method described by Kellgren and Lawrence. For the long-term follow-up in 2014, we used the Synaflexer frame to standardize the radiographs. The operation was considered to have failed if a reoperation was performed because of symptoms from a lack of healing of the treated defect. RESULTS: At the long-term follow-up evaluation, no significant differences between the treatment groups were detected with respect to the results on the clinical scoring systems. At the 15-year evaluation, there were 17 failures in the ACI group compared with 13 in the microfracture group. We observed that more total knee replacements were needed in the ACI group than in the microfracture group (6 compared with 3). The surviving patients in both groups, i.e., those who had not had a failure, had significant improvement in the clinical scores compared with baseline. Fifty-seven percent of the surviving patients in the ACI group and 48% of such patients in the microfracture group had radiographic evidence of early osteoarthritis (a Kellgren and Lawrence grade of ≥2); the difference was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The survivors in both groups improved their clinical scores in the short, medium, and long-term evaluations, and no significant difference between the groups was found at the long-term follow-up. The risk of treatment failure and the frequency of radiographic osteoarthritis are problematic. Our findings raise serious concerns regarding the efficacy of these procedures in delaying osteoarthritis and preventing further surgery. Continued basic and clinical research is needed in this field. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Autologous chondrocyte implantation to repair knee cartilage injury: ultrastructural evaluation at 2 years and long-term follow-up including muscle strength measurements.

Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) usually results in improvement in clinical scores. However, long-term isokinetic muscle strength measurements have not been reported. Biopsies from the repair tissue have shown variable proportions of hyaline-like cartilage. In this study, 21 consecutive patients were treated with autologous cartilage implantations in the knee. Mean size of the lesions was 5.5 cm(2). Follow-up arthroscopy with biopsy was performed at 2 years in 19 patients. The biopsies were examined with both light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques including immunogold analysis of collagen type 1. Patient function was evaluated with modified 10-point scales of the Cincinnati knee rating system obtained preoperatively and at 1 and 8.1 years. Isokinetic quadriceps and hamstrings muscle strength testing was performed at 1, 2 and 7.4 years. Light microscopy and TEM both showed predominately fibrous cartilage. The immunogold analysis showed a high percentage of collagen type I. At 7.4 years, the total work deficits when compared with the contra-lateral leg for isokinetic extension were 19.1 and 11.4%, and for isokinetic flexion 11.8 and 8.5% for 60 and 240 masculine/s, respectively. Mean pain score improved from 4.3 preoperatively to 6.3 at 1 year (p = 0.031) and 6.6 at 8.1 years (p = 0.013). Overall health condition score improved from 4.1 preoperatively to 6.1 at 1 year (p = 0.004) and 6.5 at 8.1 years (p = 0.008). Three patients later went through revision surgery with other resurfacing techniques and are considered failures. In summary, the formation of fibrous cartilage following ACI was confirmed by TEM with immunogold histochemistry. Although the functional scores were generally good, strength measurements demonstrated that the surgically treated leg remained significantly weaker.

Outcome after knee dislocations: a 2-9 years follow-up of 85 consecutive patients.

Dislocation of the knee is a relatively rare injury with modern arthroscopic techniques, operative reconstruction has become the standard of care. The primary aim of this study was to prospectively follow a large, consecutive series of patients with knee dislocation to document associated injuries, surgical treatment, knee function, and knee osteoarthritis (OA) at a minimum of 2 years follow-up. Hundred and twenty-two consecutive patients with a traumatic knee dislocation (Schenck II-IV) were treated at the Oslo University Hospital, Ulleval, between May 1996 and December 2004. Follow-up evaluation of 85 patients consisted of evaluation of knee joint laxity using the KT1000, the Lachman test, the pivot shift test, the reversed pivot shift, the posterior drawer test, the dial test, and the varus-valgus tests compared to the uninjured knee. Knee function was evaluated using the Lysholm score, the Tegner activity level score, the IKDC2000 score, and four single leg hop tests. Radiographic evaluation was performed using the Kellgren & Lawrence classification grade 0-4. Knee function at a minimum of 2 years after surgery disclosed a Lysholm score of a median of 83, a Tegner activity score of 5, and above 83% on all single leg hop tests compared to the uninjured side. Knee function was lower in the patients with a knee dislocation caused by high-energy trauma compared to low energy trauma. Eighty-seven percent had Kellgren & Lawrence grade 2 or higher for the injured knee compared to 35% for the uninjured knee.

A randomized trial comparing autologous chondrocyte implantation with microfracture. Findings at five years.

BACKGROUND: The optimal treatment for cartilage lesions has not yet been established. The objective of this randomized trial was to compare autologous chondrocyte implantation with microfracture. This paper represents an update, with presentation of the clinical results at five years. METHODS: Eighty patients who had a single chronic symptomatic cartilage defect on the femoral condyle in a stable knee without general osteoarthritis were included in the study. Forty patients were treated with autologous chondrocyte implantation, and forty were treated with microfracture. We used the International Cartilage Repair Society, Lysholm, Short Form-36, and Tegner forms to collect clinical data, and radiographs were evaluated with use of the Kellgren and Lawrence grading system. RESULTS: At two and five years, both groups had significant clinical improvement compared with the preoperative status. At the five-year follow-up interval, there were nine failures (23%) in both groups compared with two failures of the autologous chondrocyte implantation and one failure of the microfracture treatment at two years. Younger patients did better in both groups. We did not find a correlation between histological quality and clinical outcome. However, none of the patients with the best-quality cartilage (predominantly hyaline) at the two-year mark had a later failure. One-third of the patients in both groups had radiographic evidence of early osteoarthritis at five years. CONCLUSIONS: Both methods provided satisfactory results in 77% of the patients at five years. There was no significant difference in the clinical and radiographic results between the two treatment groups and no correlation between the histological findings and the clinical outcome. One-third of the patients had early radiographic signs of osteoarthritis five years after the surgery. Further long-term follow-up is needed to determine if one method is better than the other and to study the progression of osteoarthritis.

Autologous chondrocyte implantation compared with microfracture in the knee. A randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: New methods have been used, with promising results, to treat full-thickness cartilage defects. The objective of the present study was to compare autologous chondrocyte implantation with microfracture in a randomized trial. We are not aware of any previous randomized studies comparing these methods. METHODS: Eighty patients without general osteoarthritis who had a single symptomatic cartilage defect on the femoral condyle in a stable knee were treated with autologous chondrocyte implantation or microfracture (forty in each group). We used the International Cartilage Repair Society, Lysholm, Short Form-36 (SF-36), and Tegner forms to collect data. An independent observer performed a follow-up examination at twelve and twenty-four months. Two years postoperatively, arthroscopy with biopsy for histological evaluation was carried out. The histological evaluation was done by a pathologist and a clinical scientist, both of whom were blinded to each patient's treatment. RESULTS: In general, there were small differences between the two treatment groups. At two years, both groups had significant clinical improvement. According to the SF-36 physical component score at two years postoperatively, the improvement in the microfracture group was significantly better than that in the autologous chondrocyte implantation group (p = 0.004). Younger and more active patients did better in both groups. There were two failures in the autologous chondrocyte implantation group and one in the microfracture group. No serious complications were reported. Biopsy specimens were obtained from 84% of the patients, and histological evaluation of repair tissues showed no significant differences between the two groups. We did not find any association between the histological quality of the tissue and the clinical outcome according to the scores on the Lysholm or SF-36 form or the visual analog scale. CONCLUSIONS: Both methods had acceptable short-term clinical results. There was no significant difference in macroscopic or histological results between the two treatment groups and no association between the histological findings and the clinical outcome at the two-year time-point. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, Level I-1a (randomized controlled trial [significant difference]). See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.