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. 2011:2011:170402.
doi: 10.5402/2011/170402. Epub 2011 May 5.

Footballer's Lateral Meniscus: Anterior Horn Tears of the Lateral Meniscus with a Stable Knee

Tetsuo Hagino  1 , Satoshi Ochiai, Eiichi Sato, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Shinya Senga
Affiliations

Footballer's Lateral Meniscus: Anterior Horn Tears of the Lateral Meniscus with a Stable Knee

Tetsuo Hagino et al. ISRN Surg. 2011.

Abstract

This paper aimed to identify the characteristics of isolated anterior horn tear of the lateral meniscus in footballers who underwent arthroscopic surgery. We identified 8 patients with stable knee and no ligament injury, who had only isolated anterior horn tear of the lateral meniscus between 2007 and 2009. All 8 patients were footballers, comprising 7 men and 1 woman with mean age of 18.6 years. Arthroscopy revealed multiple longitudinal tears in 2 patients, longitudinal tear in 2 patients, degenerative tear in 3 patients, and flap tear in 1 patient. Two patients were treated by repair, five by partial excision, and one by rasping only. The mean Lysholm score was 65 before surgery and recovered to 89 at the last followup, on average 12 months after surgery. Anterior horn tear of the lateral meniscus in footballers with a stable knee is characterized by pain at the anterolateral aspect of the knee during knee extension, especially when kicking a ball, and pain during weight-bearing knee extension, together with MRI finding of hyperintense signal in the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus. Preoperative diagnosis may be possible based on these findings in footballers.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A 17-year-old male senior high school soccer player. (a) Sagittal T2-weighted MRI shows hyperintense signal (arrow) in the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus. (b) Arthroscopic image shows multiple longitudinal tears in the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Arthroscopic finding of a 22-year-old male futsal player. Degenerative tear is observed in the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Arthroscopic finding of a 21-year-old male university soccer player. A flap tear is observed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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