Comparison of open and endoscopic meniscectomy.

Fifty-eight patients who had undergone meniscal surgery were reviewed. Half had undergone conventional open meniscectomy, and half had been treated by arthroscopic meniscectomy. Each patient in the open group was matched with a patient in the endoscopic group by age, sex, and type of meniscal lesion. Patients with ligamentous injuries were excluded. Twelve patients in the endoscopic group were operated on as outpatients; the mean post-operative hospital stay in the 17 hospitalized patients in the endoscopic group was one day as compared with a mean of 3.3 days for the patients in the open group. Sick leave for the endoscopic group was only one-third of that of the open group. Operating time was 74.5 +/- 38.7 minutes in the open group compared with 55.9 +/- 25.0 minutes in the endoscopic group. At follow-up evaluation (mean follow-up period, 38 months) the percutaneous group showed a knee function score (88.7 points) similar to that of the open group (85.3 points) at 51 months. A three-year follow-up study of patients operated on endoscopically for a single meniscal lesion demonstrated that results with endoscopy are as satisfactory as those obtained by conventional surgery. Advantages of endoscopy include decreased hospitalization and shorter sick leave, with a corresponding reduction in the cost of patient care.