Posterior tibial slope in adults with sequelae of Osgood-Schlatter disease: An MRI study

Abstract

Aim: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assisted evaluation of the lateral and medial posterior tibial slopes in patients with Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD) sequelae who have reached skeletal maturity.

Materials and Methods: The study population comprised 78 adults with OSD sequelae, while the control group consisted of 78 age-, sex-, and side-matched individuals without osseous, ligamentous, or tendinous pathology. A retrospective analysis of knee MRI scans was performed. The medial and lateral posterior tibial slope (PTS) angles were calculated from the sagittal T1-weighted images.

Results: Demographic variables (age, sex, and side) were statistically similar among the two groups. The medial PTS was 4.01° (95% CI: 3.41–4.61) in the OSD group and 3.90° (95% CI: 3.33–4.47) in the control group (p = 0.784; Cohen's d = 0.04). The lateral PTS was 4.98° (95% CI: 4.46–5.51) and 4.85° (95% CI: 4.29–5.41) respectively (p = 0.732; Cohen's d = 0.05). Post-hoc power analysis indicated that, with the current sample size (n = 78 per group), the study had >80% power to detect a medium effect size (Cohen's d = 0.50) at α = 0.05; however, the observed differences corresponded to trivial effect sizes.

Conclusion: Contrary to findings in adolescents, skeletally mature adults with OSD sequelae did not exhibit statistical variation in medial or lateral PTS compared to matched controls. These results imply that changes in slopes described during growth may be lost after maturity.