Bucket-handle tear of the medial meniscus. A case for conservative surgery.
To compare the results of two methods of treatment for bucket-handle tears of the medial meniscus eighty-seven knees were studied, thirty-seven treated by excision of the bucket-handle tear alone and fifty by total meniscectomy. A postoperative history suggestive of locking was given by one patient in each treatment group. Anteroposterior laxity was found in 72% of knees treated by excision of the bucket-handle tear alone as compared with 68% of the knees treated by total meniscectomy, but in all other respects the results showed a marginal preference in favor of the simpler operation. Although the numbers are too small to prove that results are better following excision of the bucket-handle tear alone, it is suggested, in the absence of evidence that total meniscectomy is more advantageous, that the simpler operation of excision of just the bucket-handle tear is the treatment of choice in bucket-handle tears of the medial meniscus.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications