title: Second-look arthroscopic assessment and clinical results of modified pull-out suture for posterior root tear of the medial meniscus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the structural integrity of the healing site after arthroscopic repair of a posterior root tear of the medial meniscus by second-look arthroscopy and to determine the clinical relevance of the findings.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2005 to December 2010, 20 consecutive patients underwent arthroscopic modified pull-out suture repair for a posterior root tear of the medial meniscus. Thirteen patients were available for second-look arthroscopic evaluation. The healing status of the medial meniscus was classified as complete healing, lax healing, scar tissue healing, and failed healing. We evaluated the correlation between the clinical symptoms and second-look arthroscopic findings. Clinical evaluation was based on the Lysholm knee scores and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 4 cases of complete healing, 4 lax healing, 4 scar tissue healing, and 1 failed healing. The healing status of the repaired meniscus appeared to be related to the clinical symptoms. Patients who achieved complete tissue healing had no complaint. The healing status exhibited no relationship with age, mechanical axis, degree of subluxation, and symptom duration. The mean Lysholm score improved from 34.7 preoperatively to 75.6 at follow-up and the mean HSS score also significantly increased from 33.5 to 82.2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We achieved 4 complete and 8 partial healing (lax or scar) of the medial meniscus in this retrospective case series of posterior horn meniscus root repairs performed by 1 surgeon. Further research is needed to clarify why all patients showed clinical improvement despite findings of partial healing on second-look arthroscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Gwang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Song
keywords: Arthroscopy; Knee joint; Medial meniscus; Modified pull out suture; Posterior horn; Root tear