[Development of the meniscal replacement in clinical practice].
OBJECTIVE
To review the details of the current efforts to reconstruct or replace the meniscus.


METHODS
Three kinds of procedures of reconstructing or replacing the meniscus were analyzed and evaluated by an extensive review of the latest literatures concerned.


RESULTS
Three kinds of techniques were established to reconstruct the meniscus clinically, i.e., the allograft of the meniscus, meniscal reconstruction with the autotendon, and the meniscus scaffold. There were still a few defects in the meniscal replacement, and so the curative techniques would still be investigated.


CONCLUSIONS
Many efforts have been made to reconstruct the meniscus after its injury or its resection so as to prevent degeneration of the knee joint. The meniscal replacement has been employed for many years, but it has not worked so well. The establishment of an ideal replacement of the meniscus requires further studies. Therefore, reconstruction of the meniscus function is still a challenging problem to the surgeons concerned.
Huangfu
Xiaoqiao
X
Department of Arthroscopic Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200233, PR China.
Zhao
Jinzhong
J
D016025:Bone Transplantation; D001915:Braces; D006801:Humans; D008592:Menisci, Tibial / Q000601:surgery*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous