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Low incidence of new menisci, joint injuries seen between MRIs in patients with ACL deficiency
Researchers from Norway prospectively evaluated skeletally immature children with an ACL rupture and found a low incidence of new injuries to menisci and cartilage between MRIs at baseline and 3.8-year follow-up, according to this study.
“The results from this prospective cohort study provide valuable new knowledge to physicians with regard to clinical decision making for skeletally immature children after ACL injury,” Lars Engebretsen, MD, PhD, and colleagues wrote in the study.
Engebretsen and colleagues analyzed 40 children with ruptured ACLs, a diagnosis they confirmed through a conventional diagnostic MRI. The patients were mean 11 years at injury and their physical activities were monitored through monthly online surveys, according to the abstract.
Lars Engebretsen
The researchers found 80% of the children with ACL injuries performed monthly pivoting activities through physical education classes at school. Meniscus injuries were present in 28 nonreconstructed knees at baseline and at 3.8-year follow-up, while further damage to menisci and cartilage between MRIs was 3.6%, according to the abstract.
An additional 13 patients underwent ACL reconstruction, and 46.2% of these patients had meniscal injuries that required surgery. Between the first and second MRIs, children had a 19.5% incidence of new meniscal injuries, and surgeons performed surgical intervention in 8 of 41 knees.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.