Responsiveness of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures After Large Knee Articular Cartilage Transplantation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Cartilage transplantation is commonly used to treat large (>4 cm) articular cartilage defects of the knee. The 2 most common transplants are osteochondral allograft transplantation and autologous chondrocyte implantation. Several patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have been used to determine the efficacy of treatment, but it is unknown which measures are the most effective.

Purpose: To report the multiple PROMs used after large knee articular cartilage transplantation surgery and to compare the responsiveness between them.

Study Design: Meta-analysis; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a systematic search of the PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases was performed. A total of 181 articles met inclusion criteria. Patient and study characteristics were extracted, including pre- and postoperative means for PROMs. From the articles that met inclusion criteria for responsiveness analysis (2+ PROMs reported, 1-year minimum follow-up, reported pre- and postoperative means and standard deviations; n = 131), the authors compared the responsiveness between PROM instruments using effect size and relative efficiency (RE) if a PROM could be compared with another in ≥10 articles.

Results: A total of 10,015 patients (10,093 knees; mean age, 34.8 years; mean body mass index, 26.1) were included in this study. The mean follow-up time was 58.3 months (range, 1.5-247.2 months), imaging findings were reported in 80 articles (44.2%), patient satisfaction was reported in 39 articles (21.5%), and range of motion was reported in 10 articles (5.5%). There were 58 unique PROM instruments identified, with the most used being the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score (n = 118; 65.2%), followed by Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Pain (n = 58; 32.0%), KOOS Sport and Recreation (n = 58; 32.0%), KOOS Quality of Life (n = 57; 31.5%), KOOS Activities of Daily Living (n = 57; 31.5%), and KOOS Symptoms (n = 57; 31.5%). Overall, IKDC was found to have the greatest effect size (1.68) and the best responsiveness of the other PROMs, which include KOOS Pain (RE, 1.38), KOOS Symptoms (RE, 3.06), KOOS Activities of Daily Living (RE, 1.65), KOOS Sport and Recreation (RE, 1.44), Lysholm (RE, 1.76), and Tegner (RE, 1.56).

Conclusion: The IKDC is the most responsive PROM after large knee articular cartilage transplantation surgery. The IKDC score is recommended for assessing outcomes after cartilage transplantation surgery.