Kinesiophobia and Pain Catastrophizing Leads to Decreased Return to Sport Following Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation but Does Not Affect Return to Work

Objective To evaluate the effect of fear of reinjury on return to sport (RTS), return to work (RTW), and clinical outcomes following autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI). Design A retrospective review of patients who underwent ACI with a minimum of 2 years in clinical follow-up was conducted. Patient-reported outcomes collected included the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). Kinesiophobia and pain catastrophizing was assessed using the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia-11 (TSK-11) and Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), respectively. Patients were surveyed on their RTS and RTW status. Results Fifty-seven patients (50.9% female) were included in our analysis. Twenty-two (38.6%) patients did not RTS. Of the 35 patients (61.4%) who returned, nearly half (48.6%) returned at a lower level of play. TSK-11 ( P = 0.003), PCS ( P = 0.001), and VAS pain scores ( P < 0.001) were significantly greater in patients that did not RTS than in those who returned. All KOOS subscores analyzed were significantly lower ( P < 0.001) in patients that did not RTS than in those who returned at the same level or higher. Of the 44 (77.2%) patients previously employed, 97.7% returned to work. Increasing TSK-11 scores were associated with lower odds of returning to sport ( P = 0.003). Conclusion Fear of reinjury decreases the likelihood that patients will return to sport after ACI. Patients that do not return to sport report significantly greater levels of fear of reinjury and pain catastrophizing and lower clinical knee outcomes. Nearly all patients were able to return to work after surgery. Level of Evidence IV case series.