This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Study identifies reoperation rate, characteristics of meniscal tears left during ACL reconstruction
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
ORLANDO, Fla. — Award-winning research using data from the MOON study indicates most meniscal tears left in situ at the time of ACL reconstruction do not undergo isolated meniscal reoperation at 6 years, and tears that occur on the medial rather than the lateral compartment are more likely to later be treated with meniscectomy or repair.
“In situ treatment has a high success rate at 6 years,” study author Kyle R. Duchman, MD, said. “There was a trend toward increased reoperation in tears measuring greater than 10 mm in younger patients and in tears within the medial compartment. We also identified characteristics of tears left in situ. These included partial tears, longitudinal tears and tears within the peripheral one-third.”
Duchman and colleagues won the Herodicus Award at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting for their study which reported the characteristics of meniscal tears left in situ during ACL reconstruction and determined 6-year outcomes.
The researchers used the MOON database to identify more than 1,600 primary ACL reconstructions with a minimum 6-year follow-up. Of these, 65% had associated meniscus tears. Overall, 210 patients had tears left in situ at the time of reconstruction, leaving 280 tears available for analysis.
The primary study outcome was reoperation, specifically subsequent reoperation for meniscal pathology within the same compartment as the tear left in situ at the time of the ACL reconstruction.
“When comparing the medial and lateral untreated tears, medial tears were more likely to be partial [tears], but that was our only significant difference between the two compartments,” Duchman said. He added, “When looking at reoperation at 6 years, 97.8% of lateral tears did not require an isolated meniscal reoperation and 94.4% of medial tears did not require an isolated meniscal reoperation.”
The investigators also found a reoperation rate of 2.2% for lateral tears left in situ vs. 5.6% for in situ medial tears. – by Gina Brockenbrough, MA
Reference:
Duchman KR, et al. Paper #35. Presented at: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting; July 9-12, 2015; Orlando, Fla.
Disclosure: Duchman reports no relevant financial disclosures.