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The influence of the intercondylar notch dimensions on injury of the anterior cruciate ligament: a meta-analysis

  • Knee
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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this meta-analysis was to examine the effect of the intercondylar notch dimensions, intercondylar notch width index (NWI) and intercondylar notch width (NW), separately in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Methods

The PubMed and Wanfang database were searched through until 1 November 2011 to identify studies that met pre-stated inclusion criteria. Reference lists of retrieved articles were also reviewed. Two authors independently extracted information on the designs of the studies, the characteristics of the study participants, exposure and outcome assessments and control for potential confounding factors. Either a fixed- or a random-effects model was used to calculate the overall weighted mean difference (WMD).

Results

Sixteen studies (n = 4,291) were included (1,222 subjects in ACL-injured group and 3,069 subjects in the control group). Statistically significant differences were observed in the NWI (WMD, −0.02; 95 % confidence interval, −0.04 to −0.01), and in the NW (WMD, −2.15; 95 % confidence interval, −3.09 to −1.21) among the ACL-injured group when compared to the control group.

Conclusion

The meta-analysis findings concluded that narrow intercondylar notch dimensions were associated with the risk of ACL injury. A lower NWI or NW stenosis predisposes an individual to ACL injury. Further original studies should include more anatomical risk factors that could be associated with the risk of ACL injury.

Level of evidence

III.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Central South University, the National 863 project of China (2011AA030101), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30300396), the Provincial Science Foundation of Hunan (No. 09JJ3048), the Young Teacher’s boosting project of the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in Central South University, the freedom explore Program of Central South University (2012QNZT103) and National Clinical Key Department Construction Projects of China.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, #87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China

    Chao Zeng, Shu-guang Gao, Wei Luo, Min Tu, Qiang Xie, Zheng Hu, Peng-fei Liu, Hui Li, Tuo Yang, Bin Zhou & Guang-hua Lei

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China

    Jie Wei & Tu-bao Yang

  3. Medical Record Management Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, #87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China

    Ling Cheng

  4. Orthopaedics Institute of Central South University, #87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China

    Guang-hua Lei

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  1. Chao Zeng
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Correspondence to Guang-hua Lei.

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Chao Zeng and Shu-guang Gao contributed equally to this article.

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Zeng, C., Gao, Sg., Wei, J. et al. The influence of the intercondylar notch dimensions on injury of the anterior cruciate ligament: a meta-analysis. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 21, 804–815 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-012-2166-4

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