Objective: To determine if surgical or nonsurgical treatment of anterior cruciate ligament rupture affects the prevalence of posttraumatic tibiofemoral osteoarthritis (OA).
Data sources: Studies published between 1983 and April 2012 were identified via EBSCOhost and OVID. Reference lists were then screened in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement.
Study selection: Studies were included if (a) treatment outcomes focused on a direct comparison of surgical versus nonsurgical treatment of anterior cruciate ligament rupture, (b) the prevalence of tibiofemoral OA was reported, and (c) they were written in English. Studies were excluded if (a) the included patients were treated with cast immobilization after surgery, (b) the mean follow-up was less than 10 years, or (c) the patients underwent anterior cruciate ligament revision surgery.
Data extraction: Two independent investigators reviewed the included articles using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Frequency of OA, surgical procedure, nonsurgical treatments, and participant characteristics were extracted and summarized. We calculated prevalence (%) and 95% confidence intervals for treatment groups for each individual study and overall. We developed 2 × 2 contingency tables to assess the association between treatment groups (exposed had surgery, referent was nonsurgical treatment) and the prevalence of OA.
Data synthesis: Four retrospective studies were identified (140 surgical patients, 240 nonsurgical patients). The mean Newcastle-Ottawa Scale score was 5 (range = 4-6 [of 10] points). Average length of follow-up was 11.8 years (range = 10-14 years). The prevalence of OA for surgically treated patients ranged from 32.6% to 51.2% (overall = 41.4%, 95% confidence interval = 35.0%, 48.1%) and for nonsurgical patients ranged from 24.5% to 42.3% (overall = 30.9%, 95% confidence interval = 24.4%, 38.3%).
Conclusions: Although OA prevalence was higher in the surgical treatment group at a mean follow-up of 11.8 years, no definitive evidence supports surgical or nonsurgical treatment after anterior cruciate ligament injury to prevent posttraumatic OA. Current studies have been limited by small sample sizes, low methodologic quality, and a lack of data regarding confounding factors.
Keywords: knee injuries; lower extremity; prevalence.