Short-term outcomes after lateral meniscus posterior root repairs in patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate the clinical, radiological and arthroscopic outcomes after surgical repair for chronic lateral meniscus posterior root (LMPR) avulsion combined with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.Methods:From July 2015 to June 2017, a total of 33 patients who underwent transtibial pull-out suture repair for chronic LMPR avulsion combined with anatomic single-bundle ACL reconstruction with hamstring graft were retrospectively reviewed. There were 30 males and 3 females with an average age of 27.7±7.5 years (range 17-45 years) and a mean BMI of 25.2±3.7 kg/m 2 (range 19.4-36.7 kg/m 2). All patients were available for at least two years of follow-up. A second-look arthroscopy was performed to evaluate the healing status of the repaired meniscus. Subjective knee function was assessed through Lysholm and Tegner scores. Objective knee stability was evaluated using KT-1000 arthrometer side-to-side difference (SSD) and pivot shift test under anesthesia. The tibiofemoral relationship was evaluated by anterior tibial subluxation (ATS) measured on axial MRI. Between patients with preoperative ATS ≥6 mm (18 patients in the ATS positive group) and <6 mm (15 patients in the ATS negative group), the postoperative ATS and the reduction of ATS was also compared. Results:After a mean follow-up of 27.5±4.0 months (range 24-39 months), the LMPR avulsion completely healed in 23 (70%) cases, partially healed in 9 (27%) cases, failed to heal in 1 (3%) case on second-look arthroscopy. The Lysholm score was increased from 60.4±13.6 to 82.7±11.1 at 1 year and to 91.4±9.1 at 2 years operatively ( F=155.996, P<0.001). The Tegner score was increased from 3(2, 5) to 4(3, 5) at 1 year and 6(4, 6) at 2 years postoperatively (χ 2=47.791, P<0.001). The KT-1000 SSD was decreased from 9.1±3.3 mm to 2.0±1.7 mm ( t=11.197, P<0.001). The result of pivot shift test was also improved (10 grade I, 20 grade II, 3 grade III, preoperatively vs 30 grade 0, 3 grade I, postoperatively, U=5.161, P<0.001). The ATS was reduced from 5.7±3.9 mm to 3.5±3.2 mm ( t=3.530, P=0.001). However, there was no statistically significant decrease in the ATS of the ATS negative group ( t=0.400, P=0.695). The ATS of the ATS positive group was reduced from 8.7±1.8 mm to 5.0±3.3 mm ( t=4.765, P<0.001), and the ATS reduction of the ATS positive group was greater than that of the ATS negative group (3.7±3.3 mm vs 0.3±2.8 mm, t=3.115, P=0.004). Conclusion:In patients undergoing ACL reconstruction, the transtibial pull-out suture repair for chronic LMPR avulsion yielded meniscus healing rate of 97% with improved subjective knee function and objective knee stability and better restored the tibiofemoral relationship for patients with excessive ATS.