Comparison of new and old all-inside suture devices in meniscal cyst formation rates after meniscal repair.

Abstract

We compared the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-confirmed cyst formation rate after meniscal tear repair using a new all-inside suture device (N group) versus the older all-inside suture device (O group). Between October 2008 and July 2017, 94 consecutive menisci of 89 patients were diagnosed with meniscal tears and underwent arthroscopic meniscal repair using the all-inside suture device. Five of these patients were lost to follow-up within 12months and were excluded from the study. The remaining 89 menisci were followed up for at least 12months and were included in this retrospective cohort study. Older all-inside suture devices (FasT-Fix, Ultra FasT-Fix) were used until December 2012, while the new all-inside suture device (FasT-Fix 360) was used from January 2013 onwards. Meniscal cysts were detected on T2-weighted fat-suppressed MRI at 12months postoperatively. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify demographic and clinical factors associated with the use of the new all-inside suture device and cyst formation. In total, 36 and 53 menisci were included in the N and O groups, respectively. The incidence of meniscal cysts was significantly greater in the O group (14 out of 53, 26.4%) than in the N group (two out of 36, 5.56%) (P = 0.012). Two patients in the O group had symptomatic cysts that required removal. Multivariate logistic analyses showed that the cyst formation risk significantly decreased after using the new all-inside suture device than the older all-inside suture devices (odds ratio = 0.139; P = 0.04). The MRI-confirmed cyst formation rate after meniscal tear repair was significantly lower using the new than the older all-inside suture devices, indicating that the use of a low-profile device may decrease the cyst formation rate.