Repair of the Posterior Third of the Meniscus During Meniscus Allograft Transplantation: Conventional Inside-Out Repair Versus FasT-Fix All-Inside Repair.

PURPOSE

To compare conventional inside-out (IO) repair and all-inside (AI) repair for the posterior third of the meniscus during meniscus allograft transplantation (MAT).

METHODS

Among the 64 enrolled patients, 31 patients underwent MAT with conventional IO repair, and 33 patients underwent MAT with AI repair using the FasT-Fix instrument for the posterior third of the meniscus allograft. All of the patients were retrospectively evaluated through clinical assessment at the last follow-up (54.3 months in the IO group and 55.4 months in the AI group) and through magnetic resonance imaging assessment for meniscal extrusion at 1 year postoperatively. Thirty patients (15 in each group) were evaluated through second-look arthroscopy at 1 year postoperatively.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in the mean Lysholm score (91.3 in the IO group and 92.3 in the AI group; P = .358) or the mean Tegner activity scale (7.1 in each group; P = .885) between the 2 groups. There was no significant difference in the mean meniscal extrusion (2.6 mm in the IO group and 2.8 mm in the AI group; P = .454), relative percentage of extrusion value (25.6% in the IO group and 24.7% in the AI group; P = .721), or meniscal healing on second-look arthroscopy (P = .796) between the 2 groups. The difference in operative time between the 2 groups was found to be statistically significant (169.9 minutes in the IO group and 123.3 minutes in the AI group; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our comparative study on the different techniques for posterior repair of meniscus allograft suggested that AI posterior repair using FasT-Fix could be an alternative method to conventional IO repair as it gives a similar postoperative result and requires a shorter operative time.