Results of arthroscopic treatment in unresolved Osgood-Schlatter disease in athletes.

AIM OF THE STUDY: In this study we aimed to determine outcomes following arthroscopic ossicle excision in athletes with unresolved Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD).

METHOD: Arthroscopy was performed on 11 patients (11 knees) with OSD between September 2008 and November 2014. Surgical treatment inclusion criteria were determined as: failure of conservative treatment; isolated pain over the tibial tubercle and distal patellar tendon; pain limiting sporting performance at a competitive level. All patients had a documented history of OSD; the mean duration of persistent pain over the tibial tubercle was 15.5 months. The mean age was 23 years. The mean follow-up period was 66.1 months.

RESULTS: The mean latency in returning to sports related training activities after the surgery was 6.7 weeks. The mean Kujala patello-femoral score improved from 82.9 points pre-operatively, to 98.5 points at the final follow-up (p < 0.01). The mean Lysholm knee scale score was 87.5 points in the pre-operative period, increasing to a score of 96.9 points at final follow-up (p < 0.01). The mean Tegner activity level score was 7.5 in the pre-operative period, increasing to 8.5 post-operatively (p < 0.01).

DISCUSSION: We investigated the functional outcomes after arthroscopic treatment of unresolved OSD in athletes. All athletes with OSD showed satisfactory functional recovery following arthroscopic treatment. All patients were able to return to the same level of athletic activity.

CONCLUSION: Arthroscopic surgery for unresolved OSD has the major advantage of faster recovery and avoiding damage to the patellar tendon.