Chondral damage and age depress the long-term prognosis after partial meniscectomy. A 12- to 15-year follow-up study.

The effect of chondral damage and age on the long-term prognosis after partial meniscectomy was investigated in two matched groups of patients (n = 40), one with intact and the other with severely disrupted cartilage at the time of operation. Twelve to 15 years after meniscectomy a clinical and radiographic examination was done. Significantly more patients with intact cartilage (85%) than with chondral damage at operation (50%) had excellent or good knee function (P < 0.05). The activity levels decreased from active individual sports to physical fitness activities (P < 0.001), equally in both groups. Joint space reduction on roentgenograms was seen in 16 patients (80%) with chondral damage and in 6 patients (30%) with intact cartilage (P < 0.001). In addition to chondral damage, age over 30 years (P < 0.04) at the time of operation was associated with a worse functional (P < 0.03) and radiographic (P < 0.01) outcome.