Osteoarthritis after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy.

The purpose of this study was radiologic assessment of osteoarthritis after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. At an average followup of 53.5 months, 284 consecutive patients were retrospectively evaluated clinically and radiologically. Two hundred forty-seven patients had been treated for medial (Group I) and 37 for lateral meniscal tears (Group II). Preoperative radiographs were compared with those at followup and were classified. The results were analyzed statistically. Osteoarthritic changes were classified as being worse in 38% of the patients after medial and in 24% of the patients after lateral arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. Further subclassification and comparison of patients with or without already existing articular surface damage at the time of arthroscopy were not found to have significant impact on the prevention of osteoarthritic changes. Patients who were older than 40 years of age and who had undergone arthroscopic partial medial meniscectomy were radiologically classified with a significantly higher rate of osteoarthritis than patients who were younger than 40 years. Partial medial or lateral meniscectomy leads to a significant increase of osteoarthritic changes, even when this intervention is performed arthroscopically.