Posted elsewhere, but thought this would be of interest to everyone.
75% of microfracture patients return to their sport. Francis is younger which is good, but has had two surgeries and long period of symptoms which is bad. On average players have 15% reduced production the season after surgery. Basketball players do not recover to baseline after 3 years (though reduction is 10% and not very significant).
However. That's on average. Tarheels are not average.
Pulling for the kid hard.
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Conclusions
Athletes may return to sports participation after microfracture, ACI, osteochondral autograft, or osteochondral allograft, but microfracture patients were least likely to return (75%) to sports. The athletes who had a better prognosis after surgery were younger, had a shorter preoperative duration of symptoms, underwent no previous surgical interventions, participated in a more rigorous rehabilitation protocol, and had smaller cartilage defects.
Return to Sport After Articular Cartilage Repair in Athletes’ Knees: A Systematic Review
Results
One hundred thirty one professional athletes who underwent microfracture were included. One hundred three athletes (78.6%) successfully returned to play. The ratio of games started-to-games played before surgery was found to be a significant positive independent predictor of returning (p = 0.002). Compared with their preoperative season, basketball and baseball players demonstrated significantly decreased performance one season after surgery (− 14.8%, p = 0.029 and − 12.9%, p = 0.002, respectively) that was recoverable to baseline by postoperative seasons 2–3 for baseball players but not for basketball players (− 9.7%, p = 0.024).
Conclusion
Knee microfracture surgery is associated with a high rate of return to the professional level. However, the impact of this procedure on postoperative performance varied significantly depending on sport.
A cross-sport comparison of performance-based outcomes of professional athletes following primary microfracture of the knee
75% of microfracture patients return to their sport. Francis is younger which is good, but has had two surgeries and long period of symptoms which is bad. On average players have 15% reduced production the season after surgery. Basketball players do not recover to baseline after 3 years (though reduction is 10% and not very significant).
However. That's on average. Tarheels are not average.
Pulling for the kid hard.
_____________________________________________________________
Conclusions
Athletes may return to sports participation after microfracture, ACI, osteochondral autograft, or osteochondral allograft, but microfracture patients were least likely to return (75%) to sports. The athletes who had a better prognosis after surgery were younger, had a shorter preoperative duration of symptoms, underwent no previous surgical interventions, participated in a more rigorous rehabilitation protocol, and had smaller cartilage defects.
Return to Sport After Articular Cartilage Repair in Athletes’ Knees: A Systematic Review
Results
One hundred thirty one professional athletes who underwent microfracture were included. One hundred three athletes (78.6%) successfully returned to play. The ratio of games started-to-games played before surgery was found to be a significant positive independent predictor of returning (p = 0.002). Compared with their preoperative season, basketball and baseball players demonstrated significantly decreased performance one season after surgery (− 14.8%, p = 0.029 and − 12.9%, p = 0.002, respectively) that was recoverable to baseline by postoperative seasons 2–3 for baseball players but not for basketball players (− 9.7%, p = 0.024).
Conclusion
Knee microfracture surgery is associated with a high rate of return to the professional level. However, the impact of this procedure on postoperative performance varied significantly depending on sport.
A cross-sport comparison of performance-based outcomes of professional athletes following primary microfracture of the knee
