Article

The aim of this study was to assess the femoral articular cartilage
thickness of the intact knee in patients with traumatic lower extremity
amputation compared with nonimpaired individuals.
DESIGN: A total of 30 male
patients with traumatic lower extremity amputation (mean [SD] age, 31.2 [6.3]
yrs) and a random sample of 53 age-matched and body mass index-matched male
nonimpaired individuals (mean [SD] age, 29.8 [6.3] yrs) participated in the
study. Exclusion criteria were age younger than 18 yrs, history of significant
knee injury, previous knee surgery, or rheumatic disease. The femoral articular
cartilage thickness was measured using ultrasound at the midpoints of the medial
condyle, the intercondylar notch, and the lateral condyle. Ultrasonographic
cartilage measurement was performed on the intact side of the patients with
amputation and on both sides of the nonimpaired individuals. RESULTS: The femoral
articular cartilage thickness of the intact knees of the patients with amputation
was significantly decreased at the lateral and medial condyles compared with the
nonimpaired individuals (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the
measurements at the intercondylar notch between the patients with amputation and
the nonimpaired individuals (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There was a premature
cartilage loss in the intact limb knee of the patients with traumatic amputation.
This result supports the view that patients with traumatic lower extremity
amputation are at increased risk for developing knee osteoarthritis in the intact limb.

Langue : ANGLAIS