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Concomitant meniscal injury in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction does not lead to poorer short-term post-operative outcomes

  • Knee
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

The main objective was to compare post-operative outcomes in patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction both with and without concomitant meniscus injury at a mean follow-up of 3.5 years. The secondary objective was to study the effect of different meniscal injury sites and treatment modalities on post-operative outcomes (PROS).

Methods

This is a retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database of patients undergoing ACL reconstruction at our tertiary institution between 2009 and 2012. Age, sex, graft type, graft fixation modality, location of meniscal tear and treatment (meniscal repair or meniscectomy) were recorded in the database. PROS used included the Tegner activity scale and the Lysholm score.

Results

There were no significant differences between patients with or without meniscal injury in terms of age, BMI or preoperative PROS. There was no significant difference in the post-operative outcome scores between patients with or without meniscal injury at a mean follow-up of 3.5 years. Regardless of the location of meniscal injury, the post-operative scores improved as compared to preoperative scores.

Conclusion

Concomitant meniscal injury in cases of ACL reconstruction is not associated with poorer short-term post-operative PROS (mean follow-up time: 3.5 years). These findings may influence management decisions and help in preoperative counselling.

Level of evidence

IV.

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Abbreviations

ACL:

Anterior cruciate ligament

ACLR:

Anterior cruciate ligament repair

LM:

Lateral meniscus

MM:

Medial meniscus

PROS:

Patient-reported outcome scores

QoL:

Quality of life

KOOS:

Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score

SD:

Standard deviation

BMI:

Body mass index

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National University Hospital Sports Centre, National University Health System, 1E Kent Ridge Road, NUHS Tower Block, Level 11, Singapore, 119228, Singapore

    Amritpal Singh, Desmond Thiam Wei, Cheryl Tan Pei Lin, Shen Liang, Saumitra Goyal, Kimberly-Anne Tan, Brian Zhaojie Chin & Lingaraj Krishna

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Orthopaedic, Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery Cluster, National University Hospital, 1E Kent Ridge Road, NUHS Tower Block, Level 11, Singapore, 119228, Singapore

    Amritpal Singh

Authors
  1. Amritpal Singh
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  2. Desmond Thiam Wei
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  3. Cheryl Tan Pei Lin
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  4. Shen Liang
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  5. Saumitra Goyal
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Contributions

AS participated in the study design, supervised data collection and drafted the manuscript. DW and CT participated in data collection. SL facilitated acquisition of data and performed statistical analysis together with SG. KAT participated in data collection, assisted with statistical analysis and drafting of the manuscript and provided critical revision of the manuscript. BC participated in data collection, was involved in data interpretation and helped in drafting the manuscript. LK conceived and designed the study, supervised the team, facilitated acquisition of the data and provided direction for and critical review of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amritpal Singh.

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Funding

There is no funding source.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Ethics approval was obtained from the National Healthcare Group Domain Specific Review Board (ID Number: 2014/1323).

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Cite this article

Singh, A., Wei, D.T., Lin, C.T.P. et al. Concomitant meniscal injury in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction does not lead to poorer short-term post-operative outcomes. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 26, 1266–1272 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-017-4635-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-017-4635-2

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