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Findings support early ACL reconstruction
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DENVER — Results presented at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting pointed to better outcomes with early ACL reconstruction compared with delayed reconstruction.
At the time of surgery and at 6 months postoperatively, Robert Burnett, BS, and colleagues collected patient-reported outcome measures, KOOS and WOMAC scores for 255 patients who underwent ACL reconstruction. Burnett noted patients were categorized into either an early intervention group or a delayed intervention group based on time from injury to surgery.
“When evaluating meniscal pathology at the time of reconstruction, we see that there were a similar number of meniscal tears between the early and delayed surgical groups,” Burnett said. “However, there was seen to be a higher incidence of complex tears in the delayed surgical group in the medial meniscus and this was irrespective of age.”
Burnett also noted the delayed surgical group had an increased incidence of cartilage injury. Results showed patients in the delayed surgical group had more meniscectomies in both the medial and lateral menisci, while the medial meniscus was more often repairable in the early surgical group.
Reference:
Burnett R, et al. Paper #SS-18. Presented at: Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting; May 18-20, 2017; Denver.
Disclosure: Burnett reports no relevant financial disclosures.