Risk to the lateral geniculate artery during arthroscopic lateral meniscal suture passage.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of lateral geniculate artery injury during suture passage through the lateral meniscus.

METHODS

Sutures were passed via inside-out and outside-in techniques in 11 embalmed cadaveric knees. The number of punctures of the lateral geniculate artery and quantitative distances of needle penetrations were measured.

RESULTS

The lateral geniculate artery was punctured 7 times during inside-out passes through the junction of the middle and anterior third of the meniscus and 8 times during passes through the body of the middle third of the meniscus. During outside-in passes, there were 5 punctures when passing anterior to the lateral collateral ligament and 4 punctures when posterior to the ligament.

CONCLUSIONS

The lateral geniculate artery is in close proximity to the lateral meniscus and is punctured often during in vitro inside-out meniscal repair in the embalmed cadaver model.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Methods of meniscal repair that do not violate the lateral geniculate artery may offer improved rates of healing and should be further evaluated.