ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2023
Patients who undergo bilateral medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction return to sport at a similar rate as those that undergo unilateral reconstruction.
Article in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The utility of psychological readiness scales in predicting return to sport: a systematic review.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- No significant side-to-side differences in retropatellar load distribution using more than 7.5 years after isolated MPFL reconstruction: A CT-osteoabsorptiometry pilot study in nine patients.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Comparative Outcomes of Return to Sports After Bilateral Versus Unilateral Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction With FiberTape and Knotless SwiveLock Anchors in Young Athletes.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Psychological readiness for return to sport following distal femoral osteotomy in patients with recurrent patellar instability.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Research Progress on Return to Sport After Surgery for Lateral Patellar Dislocation.Orthopedic reviews · 2025Article
- Rehabilitation after surgery for patellar instability.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeLateral patellar instability is a debilitating condition not only to athletes, but also to a wide range of highly active individuals. Many of these patients experience symptoms bilaterally, though it is unknown how these patients fair with return to sports following a second medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction (MPFLR). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the rate of return to sport following bilateral MPFLR compared to a unilateral comparison group.
methodsPatients who underwent primary MPFLR with minimum 2-year follow-up were identified from 2014 to 2020 at an academic center. Those who underwent primary MPFLR of bilateral knees were identified. Pre-injury sport participation and Tegner score, Kujala score, Visual Analog Score (VAS) for pain, satisfaction, and MPFL-Return to Sport after Injury (MPFL-RSI) scale were collected. Bilateral and unilateral MPFLRs were matched in a 1:2 ratio based on age, sex, body mass index, and concomitant tibial tubercle osteotomy (TTO). A sub-analysis was performed regarding concomitant TTO.
resultsThe final cohort consisted of 63 patients, including 21 patients who underwent bilateral MPFLR, matched to 42 unilateral patients at mean follow-up of 47 ± 27 months. Patients who underwent bilateral MPFLR returned to sport at a rate of 62% at a mean of 6.0 ± 2.3 months, compared to a unilateral rate of 72% at 8.1 ± 4.2 months (n.s.). The rate of return to pre-injury level was 43% among bilateral patients and 38% in the unilateral cohort. There were no significant differences in VAS pain, Kujala, current Tegner, satisfaction, and MPFL-RSI scores between cohorts. Approximately half of those (47%) who failed to return to sport cited psychological factors and had significantly lower MPFL-RSI scores (36.6 vs 74.2, p = 0.001).
conclusionPatients who underwent bilateral MPFLR returned to sports at a similar rate and level compared to a unilateral comparison group. MPFL-RSI was found to be significantly associated with return to sport. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.
Indexed as
Identifiers
37219546What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.