Measuring the outcome of injuries and the health care personnel's treatment of them continues to gain importance. Increasingly, these outcome measures are becoming more patient oriented, which reflects a trend towards honoring the importance of patient satisfaction versus surgeon satisfaction with results of treatments. Patient satisfaction has been shown to most closely follow subjective symptoms and function.
Vanderbilt Sports Medicine is fortunate to be the coordinating center for three very large research endeavors that are interested in measuring the short and long-term prognosis of both knee and shoulder injuries using these patient-oriented outcome tools.
Background
Disruption of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is among the most frequent musculoskeletal injuries affecting physically active men and women. An estimated 200,000 ACL reconstructions are performed annually, and the incidence of this injury is roughly 1 in 3,000 per year. ACL injuries have both immediate and long-term implications for an injured person’s quality of life, their risk for osteoarthritis (OA), and long-term disability. Sustaining an ACL injury seems to increase the risk for developing OA 10-fold compared with an age-matched uninjured population. This serious consequence occurs despite having ACL reconstruction surgery.
What does the MOON Knee Group do?
Patients undergoing an ACL reconstruction by one of the participating MOON knee surgeons are eligible to be in this research study. If patients are interested, they sign a research consent form. They are then asked to fill out a 13 page questionnaire prior to their ACL surgery. At 2, 6, and 10 years after their ACL reconstruction, we will contact them and ask if they are willing to complete the same questionnaire again. Answers to these questions will allow us to track how well they’re functioning, if they’ve undergone any additional knee surgeries, and what they’re able to do or not do as a result of their knee.
There are currently over 3,500 subjects enrolled in this research study.
MOON Consortium Sites:
- Cleveland Clinic Foundation (Cleveland, OH)
- Hospital for Special Surgery (New York, NY)
- The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
- University of Colorado (Boulder, CO)
- University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)
- Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)
- Washington University (St. Louis, MO)
Why is this Study Important?
This research is motivated by the appreciation that sustaining an ACL injury poses a high probability of a lifetime compromise in physical activity and physical functioning, and increased likelihood of developing early degenerative osteoarthritis (OA) in the knee. Understanding the factors which predict poorer outcomes is the next step in designing solutions to prevent or delay this morbidity.
Link to NIH Website, highlighting the MOON Study's Research
http://www.niams.nih.gov/News_and_Events/Spotlight_on_Research/2013/acl_reconstruction.asp