Articular cartilage changes associated with bony contusions in anterior cruciate ligament injury

Abstract

Objectives: The goal of the present study was to determine whether a correlation exists between bone contusions sustained with anterior cruciate ligament injury and the articular cartilage changes observed during reconstructive surgery. Methods: Across-sectional study was conducted over 5 years for consecutive knees undergoing ACL reconstruction. Clinical data, MRI evaluation, and Arthroscopic findings were reported. Analysis of the data was achieved by using the Fisher's exact test. Results: Thirty six patients with 37 knees were included. Their mean age was 23.9 years. There were 19 males and 17 females. The mean time from injury to MRI was 3 months. The mean time from injury to surgery was 9.86 months. Bone contusions were seen in 30% of medial femoral condyles and medial tibial plateaus. A strong correlation was observed between presence of bone contusions and articular surface damage on the medial femoral condyle (p = 0.026) and the medial tibial plateau (p = 0.011). There were no correlation between bone contusions and articular surface damage on the lateral femoral condyle (p = 1.0) and the lateral tibial plateau (p = 0.69). Conclusion: Although lateral compartment bone contusions are more commonly seen following injury, we have not found this to be associated with the status of the overlying cartilage. Degenerative changes in the ACL-deficient knee are multifactorial, but medial compartment bone contusion may be an important contributor that warrants further investigation.