Curative effect of arthroscopic surgery on knee joint disease in children

Abstract

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of children with knee joint diseases and discuss the curative effect of arthroscopy. Methods Eighty-nine children with knee joint diseases in Department of Orthopedics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University from October 2012 to October 2015 were selected, and they were given knee arthroscopic surgery according to the disease types and characteristics, such as meniscal suture, suture plus angioplasty and synovectomy etc.All the symptoms, signs and the joint functions were recorded preoperatively and postoperatively.At the end of follow-up, surgical results were analyzed according to Lysholm score and International Knee Documentation Committee Knee evaluation form(IKDC) classification standard. Results The patients with discoid meniscus tear were the most, accounting for 55.55%(55/99 knees). All patients were followed up for 6-30 months(the average time was 21 months) to find that all symptoms were relieved or disappeared within 1 year after operation.The outcome was evaluated according to the Tegner knee function: 76 knees (76.76%) were markedly effective, 16 knees (16.16%) were effective, 6 knees (6.06%) were invalid and 1 knee (1.01%) was poor, and the excellent rate was 92.92%.The curative effect was evaluated according to Lysholm knee function score and IKDC score at the last follow-up.The Lysholm score in preoperation[(52.46±4.79) scores] improved to (96.52±3.97) scores in postoperation, and the difference was significant (t=-36.24, P<0.05); the IKDC score in preoperation[(46.52±10.25) scores] improved to (90.67±5.89) scores in postoperation, and the difference was significant (t=-50.69, P<0.05). There was no joint infection, blood vessel or nerve damage and so on. Conclusions Meniscus tear is common in children with knee joint diseases, and most common is discoid lateral meniscus tear, and arthroscopy can have satisfactory outcome, with no obvious complications.Therefore, arthroscopic surgery is an ideal method for surgical treatment of children with knee joint disease. Key words: Knee joint disease; Discoid meniscus; Child; Arthroscope; Meniscus suture