ABSTRACT
[Objective]To investigate the treatment and result of the meniscal cyst treatment by arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and decompression of the cyst.[Method]Nine patients who had suffered from meniscal cysts were treated by arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and decompression of the cyst in General Hospital of Yanzhou Coal Mine Group during the period from January 2002 to December 2005.There were 3 males and 6 females.The age ranged from 16 years to 54 years,with an average of(32.5?14.1) years.The duration was between 2 months and 2 years with an average of(13.4?6.8) months.One patient had medial meniscal cyst and eight patients had lateral meniscal cysts.There were 5 cysts in meniscal anterior horn,3 cysts in meniscal body and 1 cyst in meniscal posterior horn.Meniscal lesions adhering to cysts included 6 horizontal cleavages and 3 complex cleavages.Arthroscopy was performed to identify the hole through the meniscus to cyst,then the meniscal tear was partially resected taking great care to preserve the meniscal rim.The planer was used to decompress the cyst and excise the wall of the cyst and broaden the passage between the cyst and the main knee compartment.After operation,all patients were instructed to perform quadriceps exercises.The patients were followed up from 6 to 38 months with an average of(17.2?9.8) months.A conclusion was deduced from the pre-and post-operative Lysholm score of the patients.[Result]None of the 9 patients reoccored during follow-up.After operation,the symptoms of the knee pain and swelling disappeared,the range of the knee motion restored,poping and locking didn't reoccur,the fullness at the site of the cyst died away.The complication of the operation didn't occur such as infection,damage of the vascular and nerve and restriction of the knee motion.Lysholm score of the 9 patients showed a significant improvement from(70.2?7.8) pre-operation to(96.7?3.3) post-operation(t=9.3868,P=0.000).[Conclusion]Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and cyst decompression has obvious advantages of preserving the function of the meniscus and decreasing the incidence of the knee osteoarthritis.It should be the primary treatment of the meniscal cyst owing to its low morbidity and satisfying results.