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Low reoperation rate following lateral meniscus root repair: clinical outcomes at 2 years follow-up

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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to review the outcomes of lateral meniscus posterior root tears repair at the time of ACL reconstruction at a minimum 2-year follow-up.

Methods

Between March 2015 and August 2018, 2017 patients underwent primary ACL reconstruction and were considered for study eligibility. Lateral meniscus posterior root tears were identified arthroscopically, and repair was performed with a transtibial pull-out suture technique or a side-to-side suture technique. Clinical outcomes were recorded at the time of physical examination. At the end of the study period, patients were contacted to determine whether they had required reoperation.

Results

Lateral meniscus posterior root tears were identified in 153 out of the 2,017 primary ACL reconstructions (7.6%). Ninety-nine patients were included for analysis: 23 transtibial pull-out sutures and 76 side-to-side repairs. At a mean follow-up of 42 ± 10 months, one patient (1%) had undergone reoperation for failure of the side-to-side repair. There were 11 reoperations in 10 patients (10.1%), including 6 cyclops syndrome, 1 graft rupture, 1 tibial bone cyst, 1 medial and 1 lateral meniscus repair failure, and 1 arthrolysis. Postoperatively, ninety (90.9%) patients were graded A for the IKDC objective score and 9 (9.1%) patients were graded B, with an IKDC subjective score of 86.9 ± 7.6, a Lysholm score of 90.7 ± 6.7 and a median Tegner Activity Scale of 6 (3–9). All of their objective and subjective evaluations improved after surgery (p < 0.001) except for the Tegner Activity Scale. Ten patients underwent second look arthroscopy (10.1%), lateral meniscus healing was observed in 9 out of 10 patients (90%).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that lateral meniscus posterior root tear repair is a safe procedure with a very low reoperation rate at a minimum follow-up of 2 years.

Level of evidence

IV

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Abbreviations

ACL:

Anterior cruciate ligament

ALL:

Antero-lateral ligament

BMI:

Body mass index

LM:

Lateral meniscus

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Orthopedique Santy, FIFA Medical Center of Excellence, Hôpital Privé Jean Mermoz, Groupe GDS-Ramsay, Lyon, France

    Tristan De Leissègues, Thais Dutra Vieira, Jean-Marie Fayard & Mathieu Thaunat

Authors
  1. Tristan De Leissègues
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  2. Thais Dutra Vieira
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  3. Jean-Marie Fayard
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  4. Mathieu Thaunat
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mathieu Thaunat.

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Conflict of interest

Dr Mathieu Thaunat and Dr Jean-Marie Fayard have potential conflict of interest. Dr Thaunat is consultant for Arthrex, Dr Fayard is consultant for Arthrex and New Clip Technics.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

IRB

Référence Direction Recherche et Enseignement Ramsay Santé: COS-RGDS-2021-06-006-THAUNAT-M-n IRB: IRB00010835.

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De Leissègues, T., Vieira, T.D., Fayard, JM. et al. Low reoperation rate following lateral meniscus root repair: clinical outcomes at 2 years follow-up. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 31, 495–502 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-022-07075-3

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