Morphometric risk factors effects on anterior cruciate ligament injury

Objectives: This study aims to compare the morphometric differences between patients with and without an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and to investigate the anatomical risk factors associated with ACL injury.

Patients and methods: Between February 2020 and February 2022, a total of 100 patients (57 males, 43 females; mean age: 36.2±6.8 years; range, 18 to 45 years) who were operated for isolated non-contact ACL tear as the patient group and a total of 100 healthy individuals (58 males, 42 females; mean age: 35.0±6.9 years; range, 18 to 45 years) without an ACL tear as the control group were included. Magnetic resonance imaging scans of the knee joint were included in the study. Morphological variables of the ACL, distal femur, proximal tibia, and menisci were measured.

Results: The mean ACL inclination angle and medial meniscus bone angle were 37.7±3.8 and 20.2±2.9 in the patient group and 48.1±3.3 and 25.0±2.9 in the control group. According to the results of multivariate analysis, those with small ACL inclination angle and medial meniscus bone angle were more likely to have ACL tear (odds ratio: 0.128, intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.038-0.430, p=0.001).

Conclusion: Small ACL inclination angle and medial meniscus bone angle can be a risk factor for ACL tear.

Declarations

Ethics Committee Approval

The study protocol was approved by the Necmettin Erbakan University Ethics Committee (date: 04.02.2022, no: 2022/3643). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was not obtained from the participants due to the retrospective design of the study and the anonymous analysis of the data.

Data Sharing Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author Contributions

Idea/consept: M.Z.G., Y.M.D.; Design: A.Y., M.Z.G., S.A.; Data collection and/processing: M.Z.G, Z.Y.; Analysis and/or interpretation; A.Y., M.Z.G., S.A., Y.M.D.; References and fundings: M.Z.G., Y.M.D., Z.Y.; Control/supervision: A.Y., Z.Y., Y.M.D.; Literatur review: S.A., M.Z.G., Y.M.D.; Writing the article: S.A., M.Z.G.; Critical review, materials: A.Y., M.Z.G., S.A., Y.M.D., Z.Y.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Financial Disclosure

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.