title: Return to play after all-inside meniscal repair in competitive football players: a minimum 5-year follow-up.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to report the mid-to-long-term return to sports after all-inside meniscal repair in competitive football players.
  
  
  METHODS
  All football players undergoing all-inside meniscal repair with a minimum Tegner activity score of 9 and minimum follow-up of 5 years were eligible for inclusion. Patients were excluded if: (a) they had ipsilateral or contralateral: meniscectomy, posterior cruciate ligament tear, multi-ligament knee injuries, osteotomies, or meniscal transplant (b) they had meniscal tears in the anterior horn, and (c) they had bucket-handle tears. All patients included were contacted by phone and asked for current sport status or Tegner score. Preoperative Tegner scores were collected from the medical charts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients (n = 29) were men with a median (range) age of 27 (18-37) years and a follow-up of 6 (5-8) years. All meniscal injuries were complete and longitudinal tears. The median preinjury Tegner activity score was 9 (range 9-10). Two patients required revision arthroscopy (6.7 %) with partial meniscectomy before being able to return to competitive football due to suture failure. Twenty-six patients (89.6 %) returned to the same level of competition after recovering from surgery. At the last follow-up, 13 patients (45 %) were able to continue playing football at any level, and 8 (28 %) of them were able to return to the same pre-injury competitive level. The main reasons for the decreased level of activity (from competitive to recreational) or to give up football were job-related or changes in their personal life situation, but were not related to knee or meniscal disorders. Fourteen patients underwent meniscal repair alone, whereas 15 patients had an associated ACL reconstruction procedure. There were no significant differences in the collected variables between both subgroups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All-inside meniscal repair allows for excellent results with regard to return-to-play rates in competitive football. However, only half of the patients are still playing football in the mid-to-long-term follow-up, although reasons to give up football are not related to knee or meniscal disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series, Level-IV.
authors.affiliation: Mutualidad de Futbolistas, Federación Española de Fútbol - Delegación Cataluña, Ronda Sant Pere 19-21, 08010, Barcelona, Spain. dr.pedroalvarezdiaz@gmail.com.|Fundación García-Cugat, Barcelona, Spain. dr.pedroalvarezdiaz@gmail.com.|Artroscopia gc, S.L., Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital Quirón, Barcelona, Spain. dr.pedroalvarezdiaz@gmail.com.|Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. dr.pedroalvarezdiaz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Diaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Parc de Salut Mar, Hospital del Mar & Hospital de l'Esperança, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alentorn-Geli
authors.affiliation: Mutualidad de Futbolistas, Federación Española de Fútbol - Delegación Cataluña, Ronda Sant Pere 19-21, 08010, Barcelona, Spain.|Departamento de Ortopedia y Traumatología, Hospital Calderón Guardia, Barrio Aranuez, San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Llobet
authors.affiliation: Mutualidad de Futbolistas, Federación Española de Fútbol - Delegación Cataluña, Ronda Sant Pere 19-21, 08010, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Granados
authors.affiliation: Mutualidad de Futbolistas, Federación Española de Fútbol - Delegación Cataluña, Ronda Sant Pere 19-21, 08010, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Gilbert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Steinbacher
authors.affiliation: Mutualidad de Futbolistas, Federación Española de Fútbol - Delegación Cataluña, Ronda Sant Pere 19-21, 08010, Barcelona, Spain.|Fundación García-Cugat, Barcelona, Spain.|Artroscopia gc, S.L., Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital Quirón, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cugat
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries / Q000601:surgery; D001182:Arthroscopy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D065466:Lysholm Knee Score; D008297:Male; D009984:Orthopedic Fixation Devices; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000068958:Return to Sport; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries*; D000070600:Tibial Meniscus Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Football; Meniscal repair; Meniscal tear; Return to sports