Cartilage change after arthroscopic repair for an isolated meniscal tear.
To investigate the direct effect to the cartilage caused by the meniscal repair, we examined patients who underwent an isolated meniscal repair without any other abnormalities by arthroscopic examination. A total of 17 patients were examined by second-look arthroscopy after an average interval of 9 months from the meniscal repair, and have been evaluated the status of the repaired meniscus and of the relative femoral condylar cartilage. Changes in the severity of the cartilage lesion between at the time of meniscal repair and the time of the second-look arthroscopy were considered based on the status of the repaired meniscus. Regardless of the healing status of the repair site, it was possible to prevent degeneration in the cartilage in 9 of the 10 patients who demonstrated no degeneration in the meniscal body. Of the 7 patients who demonstrated degeneration in the meniscal body, progression in cartilage degeneration was noted as 1 grade in 2 patients and 2 grades in another 3 patients. Even in those in which stable fusion of the repair site was achieved, the condition of the inner meniscal body was not necessarily maintained favorably in all cases, indicating that degeneration in the meniscal body was a risk factor for cartilage degeneration. It was concluded that recovery could not be expected even at 9 months after the repair if the lesion had already demonstrated degeneration in the meniscal body at the time of repair.
Soejima
Takashi
T
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume 830-0011, Japan. tsoejima@med.kurume-u.ac.jp
Murakami
Hidetaka
H
Inoue
Takashi
T
Kanazawa
Tomonoshin
T
Katouda
Michihiro
M
Nagata
Kensei
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D002356:Cartilage / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008592:Menisci, Tibial / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D000070600:Tibial Meniscus Injuries