Body mass index and sex and their effect on patient-reported outcomes following cartilage repair: an insight from the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society Patient Registry

Introduction

Chondral injuries in the knee, whether isolated or accompanying other injuries are found in as many as 60% of arthroscopic examinations. Although current research has identified negative outcomes for patients with a body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m² undergoing chondral repair, our understanding of the relationship between presurgery BMI and postoperative patient-reported outcomes across all BMI categories remains lacking.

Objectives

Through the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society (ICRS) Patient Registry, this study aimed to explore this relationship, taking into account sex variations.

Methods

The ICRS Patient Registry was used to extract the data for this study. The outcomes in focus were the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and EQ-5D scores. Pearson and Spearman correlation methods were applied and the level of significance was set as $\alpha$ = 0.05.

Results

Of 3194 Registry patients at the time of data extraction, 1757 had undergone a surgical procedure, and 336 of these had complete KOOS or EQ-5D scores available for 6-week, 6-month, and 1-year postoperation. Analyses revealed that neither male (average BMI – 28.2 kg/m²) nor female (average BMI – 25.3 kg/m²) data sets indicated a correlation between BMI and the patient-reported outcomes.

Conclusions

BMI, irrespective of sex, is not correlated with patient-reported outcomes in patients enrolled in the ICRS Registry with a BMI <30 kg/m². Although BMIs in the overweight classification were not associated with poorer outcomes than BMIs in the normal classification, the current literature continues to support the notion that a BMI >30 kg/m² is linked to poor cartilage repair and failure.