title: Clinical results following meniscal sutures: does concomitant acl repair make a difference?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study is to analyze the clinical results of meniscal tears repaired with an all-inside suture with special attention to the results in stable versus anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knees.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 45 meniscal tears (32 medial, 13 lateral) repaired in 43 patients using a single all-inside suture system. The patients were divided in two groups and followed-up for at least 12 months. Group A (stable knees with isolated meniscal tears) consisted of 19 patients treated with all-inside sutures. Group B (ACL-deficient knees with meniscal tears) consisted of 24 patients treated with ACL reconstruction together with the meniscal repair. All the meniscal tears were located in red/red (35) or red/white (10) zone. Criteria for clinical success included absence of joint-line tenderness, locking, swelling, and a negative McMurray test. Preoperative and postoperative clinical evaluation also included the Tegner and Lysholm knee scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The clinical success rate of the repairs was 86%. According to our criteria, six of 43 repaired menisci (14%) were considered failures. Mean Lysholm scores improved significantly in both groups (58 to 88.20) and the improvement was significantly greater in group B (From 54.47 to 88, p > 0.05). Twenty patients (83.3%) had an excellent or good result in group B and sixteen (84%) in group A, according to the Lysholm knee score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our clinical results show that arthroscopic meniscal repair with all-inside devices provided a high rate of meniscus healing and seem to be safe and effective, for isolated meniscal tears as well as for ACL-deficient knees with meniscal tears. Final functional scores were similar for ACL-competent and ACL-deficient knees.
authors.forename: Ana Ma
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Martin-Fuentes
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ojeda-Thies
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vila-Rico
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery*; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction / Q000379:methods*; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008592:Menisci, Tibial / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013536:Suture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013537:Sutures; D000070600:Tibial Meniscus Injuries; D014945:Wound Healing; D055815:Young Adult