title: Anterior cruciate ligament tear in Hong Kong Chinese patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the associations between patient sex, age, cause of injury, and frequency of meniscus and articular cartilage lesions seen at the time of the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
  
  
  METHODS
  University affiliated hospital, Hong Kong.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical notes and operating records of 672 Chinese patients who had received anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction between January 1997 and December 2010 were reviewed. Data concerning all knee cartilage and meniscus injuries documented at the time of surgery were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 593 patients, meniscus injuries were identified in 315 (53.1%). Patients older than 30 years were more likely to suffer from meniscal injury compared with those younger than 30 years (60% vs 51%, P=0.043). Longer surgical delay was observed in patients with meniscal lesions compared with those without (median, 12.3 months vs 9.1 months, P=0.021). Overall, 139 cartilage lesions were identified in 109 (18.4%) patients. Patients with cartilage lesions were significantly older than those without the lesions (mean, 27.6 years vs 25.1 years, P=0.034). Male patients were more likely to have chondral injuries than female patients (20.1% vs 10.9%, P=0.028). The risk of cartilage lesions was increased by nearly 3 times in the presence of meniscal tear (P<0.0001; odds ratio=2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-4.2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased age and surgical delay increased the risk of meniscal tears in patients with anterior cruciate ligament tear. Increased age, male sex, and presence of meniscal tear were associated with an increased frequency of articular lesions after an anterior cruciate ligament tear.
authors.affiliation: Division of Sports and Arthroscopic Surgery, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: August W M
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Fok
authors.affiliation: Division of Sports and Arthroscopic Surgery, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Yau
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction / Q000379:methods*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament/injuries; Risk factors; Time factors