A higher incidence of chondral injuries on the medial femoral condyle in concomitant ACL ruptures, no significant difference in treatment: A systematic review

Abstract

AbstractPurposeThe associated damage to articular cartilage in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injured patients is a well‐recognized phenomenon; however, there is a relative paucity in the literature regarding the different treatment techniques and outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify patients treated for acute ACL rupture and associated cartilage injury, with interest in the surgical management of these chondral injuries and any difference in patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) differing techniques.MethodsA systematic review was performed looking for treatment or management of International Cartilage Repair Society grade 3 or 4 articular cartilage injury at the time of ACL reconstruction.ResultsSeventeen studies fit the criteria, a total of 892 patients were included, 64.6% were male with a mean age of 33.7 and the average time to follow‐up was 41.7 months. 68.2% of the lesions were on the medial femoral condyle (MFC) with a mean lesion size of 3.9 cm2. Six different operative methods of dealing with chondral lesions were identified, there was no significant difference in PROMs between the techniques, although there was a significant difference between the preoperative and postoperative outcome measures.ConclusionsThe systematic review found that chondral defects on the MFC are more common in concomitant ACL injuries, despite the pattern of bone bruising being more common on the lateral femoral condyle as reported in the literature. It also found no significant difference in the PROMs between the six different techniques identified for the concomitant management of ACL reconstruction and chondral defects.Level of EvidenceLevel II.