ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the arthroscopic inside-out repairing technique(hybrid suture technique) for bucket-handle tear of inside meniscus and present the short-term clinical outcome. Methods Twenty patients with 20 repairable inside meniscus tears were enrolled. With arthroscopic technique,the midbody portion and anterior portion of the lesion were repaired using standard inside-out technique with vertical and interlacing tibial and femoral side arrangement. For the most posterior portion, all-inside suture technique with two posterior portals were performed. For isolated red-white zone tears,fibrin clot was implanted into the repaired region for enhancing the healing pro-ACL injuries were reconstructed simultaneously. Results Twenty patients with 20 meniscal repairs were available for 5-36 (19.2 ± 2.3)months follow-up. Eighteen cases were asymptomatic at the latest clinical evaluation,and joint space tenderness in 2 cases. Twenty cases received MRI evaluation during follow-up, showing that 15 menisci were completely healed, 5 partially healed. Postoperative Lysholm scores of the knee joint function [82-97(90.3 ±1.5) points] were significantly improved compared with their preoperative scores [45-69 (56.7 ± 2.0)points] (P = 0.024).Conclusion For meniscal tears involving red-red and red-white zones,arthroscopic hybrid suture technique provides stable strength along the whole length of injured region, and consequently achieves satisfactory clinical outcomes.
