ACL reconstruction registry in Brunei Darussalam: a comparison with European and North American cohorts

Abstract

Introduction

The sports medicine community has only recently begun to develop and use registries and other large prospective cohorts to evaluate outcomes following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. There is no study describing the epidemiology of ACL reconstructions in a non-Western society. It is hypothesized that significant differences will be noted between the Brunei patient population and those reported in large Western registries.

Materials and methods

Demographic data and surgical findings for all patients undergoing ACL reconstruction between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010 were collected retrospectively. The resulting data were compared with baseline data from the Scandinavian registries and the Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcome Network (MOON) cohort in the USA.

Results

A total of 214 ACL reconstructions were performed during the study period. The age of patients undergoing surgery as well as the delay from injury to surgery was relatively similar in Brunei and Scandinavia. The patients in the MOON cohort were generally younger and underwent surgery sooner. The most common activity causing injury was football. All patients in Brunei underwent ACL reconstruction with hamstring autografts.

Conclusions

Registries provide detailed epidemiological data that can be used to calculate revision rates, assess patient-reported outcome scores, and compare various techniques and implants. Inclusion of cases from an entire country minimizes selection bias and maximizes data volume. This registry will, in the future, be improved by initiating the collection of pre- and post-operative patient-reported outcome scores and improving documentation strategies for cartilage defects. The national registry will generate new data about ACL reconstructions and contribute to better understanding of ACL epidemiology.