Sports participation and patient perspective after cartilage repair of the knee: a comparison between characterized chondrocyte implantation and microfracture; results after three years

Introduction: To evaluate physical activity and sports participation in a patient cohort involved in the TIGACT01&EXT trial comparing Characterized Chondrocyte Implantation (CCI) versus microfracture (MF) in treating knee cartilage defects. Methods and Materials: Ninety-three Dutch-speaking study participants (CCI n=46 and MF n=47) were followed-up for three years. Through questionnaires, sports activity was measured with modified Baecke Sports Index (MBSI) via blinded telephone survey and Activity Rating Scales (ARS). Clinical outcome of sport participation was evaluated with the KOOS Sports domain. Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare both treatment groups, and Spearman’s test for correlation between measurements. Results: Available data from patients at 36 months with the MBSI, KOOS Sports domain and ARS was 83, 53, and 80, respectively. The MBSI (median 6.75 vs. 7.23, p = 0.73) and ARS scores (median improvement from baseline 0.0 vs. -3.0, p = 0.577) did not differ significantly between groups, thus showing similar activity levels in running and other sport participations. For the KOOS Sports domain, median change from baseline was 35.93 for CCI group vs. 19.20 for MF group (C.I.95%: 0.16-28.57, p = 0,047). Correlation between MBSI and ARS was moderate (r = 0.34, p = 0.006) infer that both questionnaires measure a similar construct for physical activity level while correlation between MBSI and KOOS Sports was low (r = 0.179, p = 0.21). Conclusions: Three years after treatment, the sports participation was comparable in both groups. Although during sports activities patients seem to encounter fewer problems after CCI, as suggested by the KOOS Sports results.status: publishe