This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
OATS procedure yields low rate of return to duty for military patients with large chondral lesions
Researchers have found a low rate of return to active duty in military personnel after osteochondral autologous transplantation system treatment for large chondral defects according to a study presented here at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Specialty Day Meeting.
“Only 28.9% of the military patients we studied were able to return to full duty, when they received the [osteochondral autologous transplantation system] OATS procedure with only 5.3% returning to their pre-injury level of activity,” James S. Shaha, MD, of Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, stated. “It appears the branch of service also was a significant predictor of outcome, with Marines and Navy service members more likely to return to full activity.”
Shaha and colleagues retrospectively examined 38 OATS procedures performed by four sports medicine surgeons between January 2002 and July 2011. In addition to the 28.9% personnel who returned to active duty, a further 28.9% of patients were able to return with limited activity with “permanent duty modifications,” according to the abstract. Rank and years of service, which are typically indicative of return to active duty, were not significant predictors in this study, the researchers wrote.
Shaha stated that physicians must carefully interpret what “return to activity” means to different populations, and added that these results contrast recent literature suggesting that the OATS procedure has a high rate of return to activity.
Reference:
Shaha JS. Paper #191. Presented at: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Specialty Day Meeting; March 23, 2013; Chicago.
Disclosure: Shaha has no relevant financial disclosures.