Paper 14: Evaluation of Outcomes at Mean 2.75 years after Repair of Lateral Meniscus Oblique Radial Tears during ACL Reconstruction

Abstract

Objectives: Lateral meniscus oblique radial tears (LMORTs) commonly occur in the setting of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. Despite publications pertaining to the prevalence, biomechanics, and surgical repair techniques of LMORTs, studies reporting outcomes following LMORT repair are lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine clinical and patient-reported outcomes following the surgical repair of LMORTs during ACL reconstruction. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 845 patients that underwent a meniscus repair at a single institution between 2017 and 2019. Operative reports, procedure notes, and operative images were manually reviewed to identify LMORTs. Subsequent knee surgery, meniscus repair failure, and postoperative complications were also extracted during the chart review. Postoperative complications were defined as reinjury, pain, stiffness, recurrent swelling, weakness, instability, or superficial wound infections. Patients were contacted postoperatively for evaluation of patient reported outcomes including the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Marx Activity Rating Scale (MARS), and Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Results: Twenty-five patients (68% male) were identified who underwent repair of an LMORT in the same setting as an ACL reconstruction during the study period. Mean age was 21.1 ± 4.6 years old, and the mean body mass index was 26.9 ± 5.1 kg/m2. Mean follow-up was 33.1 ± 25.7 months. There were no reported failures of the LMORT repair. Postoperative complications were reported in 9 patients (36%). Seven of these patients underwent repeat arthroscopy of the index knee for stiffness, pain, and/or repeat injury. However, of the patients who had repeat arthroscopy at the same institution (6 patients), all demonstrated complete healing of the LMORT repair site during arthroscopic evaluation. For patients completing patient-reported outcome measures, there was a minimum follow-up period of 43 months from the initial date of surgery. The mean KOOS, MARS, and VAS were 86.3 ± 8.1, 6.7 ± 4.2, and 2.0 ± 1.3, respectively. Conclusions: Surgical repair of LMORTs results in low failure risk, low complication rates, and favorable patient-reported outcome measures. Further work is needed to evaluate for differences in outcomes between meniscus repair versus partial meniscectomy versus observation of these LMORT lesions.