The effect of medial meniscectomy on strain distribution in the proximal part of the tibia.

The tibiae of five fresh adult human cadaver legs (amputated proximal to the knee) were instrumented with twenty-five strain-gauge rosettes and were tested in axial compression, simulating single-limb stance, at loads of as much as 2450 newtons. We compared the status of the normal knee, with menisci intact, with the status of the same knee after partial or total medial meniscectomy. The resultant changes in strain on the cortical bone of the tibia indicated that medial meniscectomy caused reduced compressive strains on the whole of the lateral aspect of the tibia, while on the medial aspect compressive strains were increased at all levels beyond seventy millimeters distal to the joint-line; however, within fifty millimeters of the joint-line on the medial aspect, there was a significant reduction of compressive strains.