Arthroscopic Meniscal Repair

ABSTRACT

Between December 1994 and December 1996, 42 patients underwent arthroscopic meniscal repair in our institute. Among them, 31 patients with a follow up more than one year were reviewed. Mean age was 24.4 years(range, 18-52 years) and mean interval between onset of symptom and opera- tion was 12.3 months(range, 3 days-6 years). The associated injuries were tibial plateau fracture(6 cases), anterior cruciate ligament injury(4 cases) and posterior cruciate ligament injury(2 cases). The type of tear were longitudinal in 28 cases(90%) and combined in 3 cases(10%). Most of the meniscal tear were encountered in posterior hom(12 cases, 39%) and middle portion(11 cases, 35%). Out side to in technique was used in anterior horn tears and inside to out technique in middle or posterior hom tears. In tibial plateau fractures, arthroscopic assisted reduction was performed with autogenous bone graft. Ligament reconstructions were performed in the cases of associated cruciate ligament injury. According to Ikeuchis grading system, the result was satisfactory(excellent or good) in 23 cases(74%), fair in 6 cases(19%) and poor in 2 cases(6%). But in the cases of isolated meniscal injury, the result was satisfactory in 95%. The result of arthroscopic repair in the meniscal tears associated with other intra-articular injuries seems to be worse than that of the isolated injuries.