Arthroscopic Treatment of Symptomatic Discoid Meniscus in Children

ABSTRACT

We retrospectively reviewed the results of nine children who were less than sixteen years old and in whom partial or total arthroscopic meniscectomy was performed for symptomatic discoid meniscus in eleven knees between March 1991 and February 1997. On arthroscopic findings, there were two complete and eight incomplete type of lateral discoid menisci and one medial discoid meniscus. Among eleven cases, partial meniscectomy was performed in seven and total meniscectomy in four. The average duration of follow-up was two and a half years (range, one to five years). In this study, arthroscopic total meniscectomy was superior to partial meniscectomy for a symptomatic discoid meniscus including pain, click and locking in children. Therefore, arthroscopic meniscectomy may offer the best prognosis following accurate diagnosis in children.