Arthroscopic repair of the ruptured meniscus: one to 6.3 years follow up.

Forty-nine patients underwent arthroscopic meniscal repair. Twenty-three had an isolated tear of the medial meniscus, four an isolated tear of the lateral meniscus, two a tear of the medial meniscus combined with a rupture of the medial collateral ligament, and 20 a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and a tear of one or both menisci. At the time of repair of the menisci, seven had undergone reconstruction of their ACL, whereas 13 had been treated conservatively for their ACL rupture. Seven of 10 retears were in patients with a conservatively treated ACL tear, and three were in patients with an isolated tear of a meniscus. Thirty-five patients without retears were reexamined after 5.5 years (1-6.3 years). The average Lysholm knee score before the trauma was 98 (range 75-100), and at follow-up it was 87 (range 29-100). The average Tegner's activity score before the trauma was 6 (range 3-9), and at follow-up it was 5 (range 0-9). When there is no retear, the clinical results of arthroscopic repair of the menisci are excellent. In those patients who had isolated lesions of the menisci, there were very few retears, 11% in this study. ACL deficiency of the knee greatly increases the risk of retear. In this study 46% of patients with persistent instability after an untreated ACL rupture incurred retears. There were no retears in the patients who underwent ACL reconstruction concomitant with the meniscal repair.