Association Between Intercondylar Notch Dimensions And Anterior Cruciate Ligament Iniury:A Meta-analvsis

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between intercondylar notch dimensions,including the intercondylar notch width(NW) and intercondylar notch width index(NWI),and the risk of anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) injury by performing a meta-analysis.To better understand the risk factors of anterior cruciate ligament injury,providing more professional advices for the prevention of anterior cruciate ligament injury.Methods:The English databases such as Pubmed,Embase,Cochrane Library and Web of Science were searched,as well as Chinese databases such as CNKI and Wanfang Data.The search time was from the establishment of the library to December 2018,Articles published at domestic and foreign which are regarding the relationship between the intercondylar notch dimensions and the anterior cruciate ligament injury,mainly in observational studies including case-control studies and cohort studies,have been collected.The statistical analysis were performed by using RevMan 5.3and STATA 12.0Results:This meta-analysis included 14 articles,of which 12 were case-control trials and2 were prospective cohort studies,with 2659 cumulative subjects(1036 in the injured group,and 1623 in the control group).Meta-analysis results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the width of the intercondylar notch between the injury group and the control group.The pooled weighted mean difference(WMD)was-1.00,95% CI:(-1.06,-0.95),P < 0.00001.There was also a statistically significant difference in the intercondylar notch width index between the injury group and the control group.The pooled weighted mean difference(WMD) was-0.02,95%CI:(-0.03,-0.01),P < 0.00001.Similar results were obtained in the subgroup analysis of measurement methods(X-ray and MRI) and measurement of position(axial andcoronal).Conclusion:This Meta-analysis results showed that the dimensions of the intercondylar notch(including the intercondylar notch width and the intercondylar notch width index) was associated with anterior cruciate ligament injury.Patients with anterior cruciate ligament injury had significantly smaller intercondylar notch width or intercondylar notch width index than controls,and those with smaller femoral intercondylar size could do some measures to prevent anterior cruciate ligament injury.