Evaluating the Effectiveness of Subchondroplasty for Treating Bone Marrow Lesions of the Knee

March 27, 2020 updated by: Alexander Rezansoff, University of Calgary

Randomized Pilot Study Comparing the Effectiveness of Subchondroplasty Combined With Arthroscopy to Arthroscopy Alone for Treating Bone Marrow Lesions of the Knee

The primary objective of this randomized pilot study is to evaluate whether subchondroplasty combined with knee arthroscopy is more effective at reducing knee pain and improving knee function compared to knee arthroscopy alone. All knee function outcomes will be assessed at initial presentation, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months following surgery using validated questionnaires. Patient-reported pain will also be recorded at 2 weeks after surgery.

The secondary objective of the study is to determine whether the subchondroplasty and knee arthroscopy group has better bone quality and bone micro-architecture compared to the group receiving knee arthroscopy alone. Bone quality/micro-architecture will be evaluated at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months following surgery using Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative CT (HR-pQCT) imaging and at baseline, 3 months, 12 months, and 24 months after surgery using X-rays.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

The investigators hypothesize that patients receiving subchondroplasty combined with arthroscopy will have reduced knee pain, improved knee function, and improved bone quality and micro-architecture compared to patients receiving arthroscopy alone who have symptomatic early osteoarthritis with the presence of at least one BML observed on MRI.

Patients who provide informed consent to enroll in the study will be scheduled for knee surgery and randomized to receive subchondroplasty and arthroscopy or arthroscopy alone. Knee function outcomes will be assessed at initial presentation, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months following surgical intervention. Patient-reported pain will also be recorded at 2 weeks following surgical intervention. The evaluation of bone quality and micro-architecture will occur at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months following surgical intervention. X-rays will also be evaluated at the 24-month time-point.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

18

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

40 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. 40 years of age or older
  2. Kellgren-Lawrence grade 1-3 osteoarthritis in the affected knee
  3. Has experienced pain in the affected knee for at least 3 months
  4. Candidate for knee arthroscopy (moderate to severe symptoms, lack of response to non-operative care, and/or mechanical symptoms)
  5. Stable ligament exam
  6. No additional injuries affecting the study knee or contralateral knee
  7. Candidate for MRI (no pacemaker, aneurysmal clip, eye prosthesis, pregnancy, neurostimulator, implanted stimulator [e.g. diabetes pump])
  8. Confirmed visualization of at least 1 bone marrow lesions using T2 weighted MRI

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Determined to not be a surgical candidate
  2. Kellgren-Lawrence grade 4 osteoarthritis
  3. Unable to fit in XtremeCT scanner (based on measurement at time of recruitment)
  4. Contraindications to MRI
  5. Any hardware present in either knee that could interfere with MRI signal
  6. Bone marrow lesion(s) caused by acute trauma prior to enrolment
  7. Radiographic mal-alignment defined by obvious valgus > 7° or obvious varus > 7° on measured hip-knee-ankle angle
  8. No bone marrow lesion detected on baseline (pre-operative) MRI
  9. Rheumatoid arthritis
  10. Septic arthritis
  11. Reactive arthritis
  12. Gout
  13. Osteochondritis dissecans of knee resulting in significant bone loss
  14. Collapse of subchondral bone
  15. Restricted knee range of motion: passive flexion < 110° or a flexion contracture > 30°
  16. Ligament instability in either knee
  17. History of other arthropathies (e.g. sickle cell or autoimmune disease)
  18. History of uncontrolled diabetes: HbA1C level of 8 or higher, measured within 3 months of enrollment
  19. Unable to perform a functional assessment of either knee
  20. Current smoker or stopped smoking for less than 3 months
  21. History of invasive malignancy (Unless treated in the past and has had no clinical signs or symptoms of malignancy for 5 years or longer)
  22. Has a primary bone tumor in the knee or adjacent to the knee
  23. Having surgery on another part of the lower limb in addition to the study procedure
  24. Taking prescription pain medication other than NSAIDs or acetominophen
  25. Active infection or a history of joint infection
  26. Pursuing action through the Workers' Compensation Board - Alberta
  27. BMI > 40

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Subchondroplasty and Knee Arthroscopy
Patients randomized to the Subchondroplasty and Knee Arthroscopy group will receive the subchondroplasty procedure before or after knee arthroscopy that will be completed based on current standard of care guidelines.
Subchondroplasty® (SCP®) is a procedure performed along with minimally-invasive arthroscopy. The bone marrow lesion(s) will be located using pre-operative MRI combined with fluoroscopy (intra-operative X-ray) and a small, drillable AccuPort® Delivery Cannula will be placed in the appropriate position. The cannula will then be drilled into the bone marrow lesion(s) and a flowable, synthetic, calcium phosphate bone substitute (AccuFill® Bone Substitute Material, Zimmer Biomet) will be injected into the lesion(s). The calcium phosphate bone substitute will then harden, improve the structural integrity of the damaged subchondral bone, and will gradually be resorbed and replaced with new bone.
Subchondroplasty® (SCP®) is a procedure performed along with minimally-invasive arthroscopy. The specific biological component of the procedure involves the injection of the AccuFill® Bone Substitute Material (Zimmer Biomet), which is a a flowable, synthetic, calcium phosphate bone substitute, into the bone marrow lesion(s).
Other Names:
  • SCP® (Zimmer)
Sham Comparator: Knee Arthroscopy Alone
Patients randomized to the Knee Arthroscopy Alone group will receive the knee arthroscopy that will be completed based on current standard of care guidelines.
Knee arthroscopy is a surgical procedure that involves the orthopaedic surgeon making small incisions in the knee and then inserting a small camera into the joint. Following the insertion of the camera, multiple procedures can be completed to treat a number of different conditions such as repair or partial/complete removal of the meniscus, debridement, lavage, removal of a loose body among others.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire scores
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months post-surgery.

The primary outcome measure will be the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire scores for knee pain and knee function.

The KOOS questionnaire consists of 5 different sub-scales including Symptoms (7 questions), Pain (9 questions), Activities of Daily Living (17 questions), Sports/Recreation (5 questions), and Quality of Life (4 questions). A normalized score from 0-100 (100 indicates no problems/symptoms and 0 indicates extreme problems/symptoms) is calculated for each sub-scale individually.

Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months post-surgery.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Subjective Knee Evaluation Form scores
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months post-surgery.

Knee pain and function will also be evaluated using the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Subjective Knee Evaluation Form scores.

The IKDC includes three different domains including Symptoms (7 questions), Sports Activities (2 questions, 1 multi-part question), and Function (1 multi-part question). A total score from 0-100 (100 indicates no problems/symptoms and 0 indicates extreme problems/symptoms) is calculated.

Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months post-surgery.
Change in Patient-Reported Pain scores on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-surgery), 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months post-surgery.

Knee pain will also be evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores for patient-reported pain.

The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) consists of a 10 cm long straight line that starts from the lowest value of 0 (no pain) at one end, and the highest value of 10 (worst pain possible) at the other. Patients are asked to mark a place on the line that represents the severity of their pain. Scores are recorded in millimetres from 0-100 with 0 indicating no pain and 100 indicating the worst pain possible.

Baseline (pre-surgery), 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months post-surgery.
Change in bone quality/micro-architecture evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 12 months post-surgery
The bone quality and micro-architecture of the bone marrow lesion(s) in the knee, and the knee overall, will be evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI will be used to identify the presence of bone marrow lesion(s) in the knee at baseline before surgery using a T2 weighted fat-suppression sequence and evaluate the bone marrow lesion(s) post-surgery.
Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 12 months post-surgery
Change in bone quality/micro-architecture evaluated using High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative CT (HR-pQCT) imaging
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 12 months post-surgery
The bone quality and micro-architecture of the bone marrow lesion(s) in the knee, and the knee overall, will also be evaluated using High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative CT (HR-pQCT) imaging. HR-pQCT imaging will be used to evaluate the bone micro-architecture of the knee and the bone marrow lesion(s) before and after surgery.
Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 12 months post-surgery
Change in bone quality/micro-architecture evaluated using X-rays
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 12 months, 24 months post-surgery.
The bone quality and micro-architecture of the bone marrow lesion(s) in the knee, and the knee overall, will also be evaluated using X-ray. X-ray imaging will be used to evaluate bone quality and osteoarthritis status before and after surgery.
Baseline (pre-surgery), 3 months, 12 months, 24 months post-surgery.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alexander Rezansoff, MD, FRCSC, University of Calgary

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 18, 2018

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

March 31, 2021

Study Completion (Anticipated)

May 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 3, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 4, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

October 9, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 31, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 27, 2020

Last Verified

March 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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