Partial meniscectomy and anterior cruciate ligament rupture in soccer players. A study with a minimum 20-year followup.

A retrospective review of 77 soccer players with 91 affected knees that had undergone the same operation, a rim-preserving meniscectomy, was made with a minimum followup of 20 years and an average followup of 27 years. The patients were divided into groups based on the presence of an intact (Group 1) or ruptured (Group 2) anterior cruciate ligament. At 5 years after meniscectomy, 75% of Group 1 and 52% of Group 2 were still playing soccer, and 13% in Group 1 as opposed to 28% in Group 2 had given up sports. The sporting class assessment was good in 80% of the Group 1 knees and 62% in the Group 2 knees. By followup, 5% of Group 1 and 32% of Group 2 required further meniscectomies, and 2% of Group 1 and 16% of Group 2 required operations for osteoarthritis. Radiologically diagnosed osteoarthritis was present in 24% of Group 1 knees compared with 77% of Group 2. Functionally, 60% of the Group 1 knees were excellent at followup as opposed to 9% in Group 2 knees. In Group 1, 49% were still involved in sports compared with 22% in Group 2. However, 97% of Group 1 were satisfied with their knees compared with 74% of Group 2. All of these differences were statistically significant.