Abstract
Arthroscopic meniscal repair is the gold standard for longitudinal peripheral meniscal
tears. The time interval between trauma and meniscal repair remains controversial.
The aim of this study was to evaluate failure rates and clinical outcome of arthroscopic
meniscal repair in relation to chronicity of injury. A total of 238 meniscal repairs
were performed in 234 patients. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was reconstructed
in almost all ACL-deficient knees (130 out of 133). Time interval between injury and
repair was divided into acute (< 2 weeks), subacute (> 2 to < 12 weeks), and chronic
(> 12 weeks). Patients completed postal questionnaires to evaluate clinical outcome
and failure rates. Study instruments included Lysholm, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis
Outcome Score (KOOS), and Tegner scoring systems. At a median follow-up of 41 months
(interquartile range [IQR], 34–53 months) 55 medial and 10 lateral meniscal repairs
failed (overall failure rate, 27%). There was a significant higher failure rate for
medial meniscal repair (p < 0.05) and ACL-deficient knees without ACL reconstruction. Functional outcome scores
showed only significant differences on the KOOS subscale “function in daily living”
(95% confidence interval, 1.05–15.27, p < 0.05). No significant difference was found for any interval between trauma and
repair. The interval between trauma and arthroscopic meniscal repair has no influence
on the failure rate. Differences in survival rate of meniscal repair are more dependent
on location of the lesion and ACL status, rather than chronicity of injury.
Keywords
meniscal repair - meniscus - time interval - ACL reconstruction
