The prognosis of repaired and intact menisci in unstable knees--a comparative study.

We performed a follow-up study of 40 patients, 6 women and 34 men, all of whom had tears of the anterior cruciate ligament that were repaired. These patients were divided into two groups of matched pairs, 20 patients each. Those in Group I also had tears of the meniscus that were sutured, and in Group II the meniscus was intact. At the minimum of a 6-year follow-up, all knees were unstable despite the cruciate ligament repair, but 85% of the menisci were intact. There was no significant difference in the retear rate between those that were sutured and those that were intact initially. The high incidence of intact menisci at follow-up was attributed at least in part to the fact that these patients reduced their level of physical activity. We concluded that a healed tear of the meniscus has the same chance of survival in an unstable knee as an intact meniscus. The limiting factor is the grade of instability and the activity level of the patient.