Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center

Intoduction

Three researchers from the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center were awarded with the prestigious Hughston Award 2012 for the best publication in the high-ranked American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Tough competition

This is the first time ever that this price was given to Norwegian researchers.

The award is also a great honor for the OSTRC and their chairs Professor Roald Bahr and Professor Lars Engebretsen who himself was part of the research work.

Lars Engebretsen, Jan Harald Røtterud and Asbjørn Årøen.

Best publication in AJSM

The American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) annually receives several thousand manuscripts and does publish not more than 300 of the best studies. This year, the award was given at the AOSSM annual meeting, July 12-15 in Baltimore, USA. 

The price was awarded for ”Effect of gender and sports on the risk of full-thickness articular cartilage lesions in anterior cruciate ligament-injured knees. A nationwide cohort study from Sweden and Norway of 15 783 patients", published in AJSM July 2011.

Norwegian – Swedish collaboration for injury prevention research

Researchers behind this study formed a well working group of orthopedic surgeons from Norway and Sweden under the leadership of Dr. Jan Harald Røtterud from Akershus University Hospital (Ahus, Norway), Dr. Einar A. Sivertsen (Ahus, Norway), Dr. Magnus Forssblad (Artrokliniken, Stockholm, Sweden), Professor Lars Engebretsen (Oslo University Hospital, Norway), and Dr. Asbjørn Årøen (Ahus, Norway).

Gender and sport are associated with an increased risk of full-thickness articular cartilage lesions in ACL-injured knees

A total of 1 012 out of the 15 783 included patients (6%) had full-thickness cartilage lesions.

Male patients had an increased odds of full-thickness cartilage lesions compared with females (odds ratio, OR=1.2).

In males, team handball had an increase in the odds of full-thickness cartilage lesions compared with soccer (OR=2.4). Among female patients, no sport investigated showed a significant decrease or increase in the odds of full-thickness cartilage lesions.

The odds of a full-thickness cartilage lesion increased for each month elapsed from time of injury until ACL reconstruction when all patients were considered, while time from injury to surgery did not affect the odds significantly in those patients reconstructed within 1 year of injury.

Previous surgery increased the odds of having a full-thickness cartilage lesion (OR=1.4).

Authors´ suggestions 

- ACL reconstruction can be delayed until adequate post-injury rehabilitation is achieved and up to 12 months after injury without significant risk of new full-thickness cartilage lesions