Factors influencing outcome of knee bone marrow oedema: a clinical study

Bone marrow oedema has a long recovery time. Conservative and surgical treatments have been used. This study aimed at identifying a profile of patients who may benefit from nonsurgical management. We compared the results of periodic clinical and radiological examinations of patients who visited our clinic with knee pain and were diagnosed with bone marrow oedema following magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. Clinically, the patients were evaluated using the Lysholm knee score and a visual analogue scale. The study included 67 patients (31 males, 36 females) who were followed for 6-24 months. Patient age, gender, body mass index, affected area, and concomitant intra-articular pathology were analysed. Of the 67 patients, 63 were treated conservatively, and four underwent decompression. Patients with involvement of both the medial femoral condyle and tibial plateau were found to be more resistant to treatment than those in which only the tibial plateau was affected. Intra-articular pathologies were frequently noted together with bone marrow oedema, causing knee pain to persist after the bone marrow oedema had subsided.