A study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine examines meniscal repair performed concurrently with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction for acutely injured knees.
The multicenter study examined cases from 2002 to 2004 where patients underwent the procedure and were followed for six months. There were 235 patients included in the study with a six year follow-up.
Here are five findings from the study:
1. Repaired menisci involved the peripheral one-third of the meniscus most commonly. The patterns were longitudinal in 84 percent of the cases and displaced bucket-handle in 10 percent of the cases. The average length was 16.5±5.8 mm.
2. There was a 14 percent meniscal repair failure rate. Of the 154 medial meniscal repairs, there were 21 failures; of the 72 lateral meniscal repairs, there were 21 failures; of the nine patients who underwent both repairs, there were two failures.
3. In most cases, medial repairs failed earlier than lateral repairs — failing after 2.1 years while lateral repairs typically failed after around 3.7 years.
4. There were significant outcome score improvements after the six-year follow up for the patients. Additionally, there weren’t any differences in the suture number or type between repair failures and successes.
5. Meniscal reoperation rate was higher in patients who underwent repair as compared with those who did not have identified meniscal injury. "Surgeons may expect good clinical outcomes six years after surgery," concluded the study authors.
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