Medial Meniscal Posterior Horn Tears Research Articles

Arthroscopic all-inside suture repair of medial meniscus lesion in anterior cruciate ligament—deficient knees: Results of second-look arthroscopies in 39 cases

To evaluate by second-look arthroscopy the clinical results of arthroscopic all-inside sutures with hook using 2 posteromedial portals for medial meniscus posterior horn (MMPH) tears in patients who underwent concurrent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Case series. From May 1997 to June 2001, 78 knees underwent surgery for MMPH tears with arthroscopic all-inside sutures with hook and concurrent ACL reconstruction. Among them, 39 patients were evaluated with follow-up second-look arthroscopy. All MMPH tears were repaired by arthroscopic all-inside suture technique using 2 posteromedial portals. The second-look arthroscopy was performed, on average, 19 months (range, 6 to 40 months) after the ACL reconstruction and meniscal repair. They were divided into complete healing, incomplete healing, and failure groups. Tear size, type, and location were analyzed. We determined clinical criteria for success in meniscal status as (1) not positive for 4 clinical objective parameters--joint line pain and tenderness, locking or catching, recurrent effusions, and McMurray test; and (2) complete healing of all-inside sutured meniscus during second-look arthroscopy. Among 39 knees assessed by second-look arthroscopy, 32 (82.1%) knees showed complete healing and 6 (15.4%) showed incomplete healing without any positive findings of the clinical symptoms. Furthermore, all cases in the incompletely healed group had complete healing of the posterior horn, which was sutured by an all-inside suture; the incomplete healing was observed between the junction areas of all-inside to inside-out sutures, which was mainly at the posteromedial corner. The success rate was 97.4% (38 of 39 patients) overall for all-inside suture healing. The 1 patient (2.6%) with clinical failure had a retear of the repaired site. The average knee scores improved and all showed less than 2-mm side-to-side difference on KT-2000 testing. Arthroscopic all-inside vertical suture using a suture hook resulted in a high rate of healing even in large and complex vertical tears. This suturing can be one of the optimal treatments for MMPH tears greater than 1 cm during concurrent ACL reconstruction. Level IV, Therapeutic Study, Cases Series (no, or historical, control group).

Results of Arthroscopic All-Inside Sutures in Medial Meniscus with Concomitant Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical results of arthroscopic all-inside suture using 2 posteromedial portals for medial meniscus posterior horn (MMPH) tears by second-look arthroscopy in patients received concurrent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Materials and Methods: From May 1997 to June 2001, 78 MMPH tears were treated with arthroscopic all-inside sutures with concurrent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Among these 39 patients were availablefor follow-up evaluation by second-look arthroscopy. All MMPH tears were repaired using the arthroscopic all-inside suture technique using 2 posteromedial portals. Second-look arthroscopy was performed on average 19 months (range 6 to 40 month) after the ACL reconstruction and meniscal repair. Meniscus healing status was defined and classified. According to the Henning classification, they were divided into complete healing, incomplete healing, and failure. Tear size, type and location were analyzed and compared with healing category. We determined clinical criterias for success in meniscal status as; (1) no positive among 4 clinical objective parameters: joint line pain and tenderness, locking or catching, recurrent effusions, and positive McMurry test; and (2) complete healing of all-inside sutured meniscus during second-look arthroscopy. Results: Of 39 knees assessed by second-look arthroscopy, 32 (82.1%) showed complete healing, 6 (15.4%) incomplete healing without any positive findings of clinical symptoms. Furthermore, all in the incompletely healed group showed complete healing of the posterior horn, which was sutured by allinside suture, whereas incomplete healing was observed at the junctional areas between all-inside and inside-out sutures, mainly at the posteromedial corner. So the overall success rate was 97.4% (38/39) for all-inside suture healing. The one (2.6%) patient with clinical failure revealed a retear of the repaired site, and subsequent subtotal menisectomy was performed. KT-2000 arthrometry showed that sagittal knee laxity was less than 2 mm (Average 1.5 mm, SD 0.72) in all reconstructed knees. The average knee scores, Lysholm knee score and HSS score, at final follow up were 95.5 and 96.5, respectively. As expected, small, longitudinal, and more peripheral (red-red zone) tears resulted in a higher healing outcome. Conclusion: Accurate repair with arthroscopic all-inside vertical suture using a suture hook, resulted in a high healing rate even in large and complex vertical tears. Arthroscopic all-inside meniscal suturing may be an optimal treatment for medial meniscus posterior horn tear greater than 1 cm during concurrent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

All-inside suture technique using two posteromedial portals in a medial meniscus posterior horn tear

Up to two thirds of patients with anterior cruciate ligament rupture have a combined medial meniscus posterior horn tear. Researchers have proven the importance of repairing this tear to enhance stability after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. However, repairing the meniscal tear can be sometimes cumbersome and difficult or even impossible in certain circumstances, especially in places such as the posterior horn of the medial meniscus. We devised a simple and easy method of all-inside suturing of medial meniscus posterior horn tears using a 2-posteromedial portal system. Furthermore, with a modification of our technique, a clinician can not only suture single but also double longitudinal medial meniscus posterior horn tears.

Arthroscopy and Arthrography

To the Editor.— Dr Mooney, in his editorial A Few Lessons in Orthopedics (1982;247:1606), gives a falsely low impression of the value of arthrography. Referring to an article inThe Journalconcerning anterior cruciate ligament injuries, he cites false-positive results. Actually, only seven of 19 patients underwent arthrography, and three of the seven received correct diagnoses. Arthroscopy and arthrography are complementary, and arthrography performed by a skilled practitioner can be reliable in 90% to 95% of the cases, as proved in several large series in which 5,000 to 10,000 studies were performed. Our experience in more than 7,000 examinations continues to demonstrate this accuracy, and our data were presented to The Chicago Orthopedic Society in October 1981. Since arthrography has become more popular, we have seen numerous medial meniscus posterior horn tears that were not detected by previous arthroscopy. We believe that arthrography, a proved test of high accuracy