title: All-inside repair for a root tear of the medial meniscus using a suture anchor.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are no published articles reporting clinical outcomes after all-inside meniscal repair using a suture anchor for a medial meniscal root tear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the subjective and objective outcomes after repair of medial meniscal root tears.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series; Level of evidence, 4.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirteen patients with a root tear of the medial meniscus underwent all-inside repair using a suture anchor. Postoperative evaluation of meniscal status was performed using physical examination criteria, specifically joint line tenderness, McMurray test, and follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Functional evaluations were performed using Tegner activity level and Lysholm knee score. Follow-up MRI scans were obtained 6 months postoperatively to evaluate healing of the root tear and measure extrusion of the midbody of the medial meniscus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average follow-up was 30.8 months (range, 24-40 months). No patients had joint line tenderness or effusion. No patients demonstrated a positive McMurray test result postoperatively. The preoperative mean Tegner activity level was 1.9 (range, 1-6), and the mean Lysholm score was 69.1 (range, 53-91). At last follow-up, the mean Tegner activity level was 3.9 (range, 2-6), and the mean Lysholm score was 90.3 (range, 75-100). Improvements in both the Tegner activity level and Lysholm score were statistically significant (P = .001 and P = .000, respectively). Follow-up MRI was performed in 10 patients. Five (50%) patients showed complete healing; 2 of these 5 patients showed complete healing with isointense signal of a normal meniscus, and 3 showed intermediate signal tissue at the previous tear site without any high signal cleft or ghost sign. Four (40%) patients showed partial healing, and 1 (10%) showed no healing. Mean extrusion of the midbody of the medial meniscus was 3.9 mm (range, 2.2-7.1 mm) preoperatively and 3.5 mm (range, 1.2-6.1 mm) postoperatively. Extrusion was not significantly decreased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated symptomatic improvement after meniscal root repair using a suture anchor. However, follow-up MRI scans did not show complete healing of all repaired root tears.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Eulji Medical Center, 280-1, Hagye-1-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 139-711, Korea.
authors.forename: Yu-Hun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Nam-Hong
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jong-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Brian N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Victoroff
mesh_terms: D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008592:Menisci, Tibial / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D053441:Suture Anchors; D013536:Suture Techniques; D016896:Treatment Outcome