Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2012 Dec 19;94(24):2222-7.
doi: 10.2106/JBJS.K.01584.

Meniscal repair outcomes at greater than five years: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Jeffrey J Nepple  1 , Warren R Dunn, Rick W Wright
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Meniscal repair outcomes at greater than five years: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Jeffrey J Nepple et al. J Bone Joint Surg Am. .

Abstract

Background: Meniscal repair offers the potential to avoid the long-term articular cartilage deterioration that has been shown to result after meniscectomy. Failure of the meniscal repair can occur several years postoperatively. Limited evidence on the long-term outcomes of meniscal repair exists.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of studies reporting the outcomes of meniscal repair at a minimum of five years postoperatively. Pooling of data and meta-analysis with a random-effects model were performed to evaluate the results.

Results: Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled rate of meniscal repair failure (reoperation or clinical failure) was 23.1% (131 of 566). The pooled rate of failure varied from 20.2% to 24.3% depending on the status of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the meniscus repaired, and the technique utilized. The rate of failure was similar for the medial and the lateral meniscus as well as for patients with an intact and a reconstructed ACL.

Conclusions: A systematic review of the outcomes of meniscal repair at greater than five years postoperatively demonstrated very similar rates of meniscal failure (22.3% to 24.3%) for all techniques investigated. The outcomes of meniscal repair at greater than five years postoperatively have not yet been reported for modern all-inside repair devices.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Random-effects model for the effect of meniscal tear location (medial or lateral) on the failure rate. M-H = Mantel-Haenszel, CI = confidence interval, and df = degrees of freedom.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Random-effects model for the effect of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) status (intact or deficient) on the failure rate. M-H = Mantel-Haenszel, CI = confidence interval, and df = degrees of freedom.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Kim S, Bosque J, Meehan JP, Jamali A, Marder R. Increase in outpatient knee arthroscopy in the United States: a comparison of National Surveys of Ambulatory Surgery, 1996 and 2006. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2011 Jun 1;93(11):994-1000 - PubMed
    1. Garrett WE, Jr, Swiontkowski MF, Weinstein JN, Callaghan J, Rosier RN, Berry DJ, Harrast J, Derosa GP. American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Practice of the Orthopaedic Surgeon: part-II, certification examination case mix. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2006 Mar;88(3):660-7 - PubMed
    1. Baratz ME, Fu FH, Mengato R. Meniscal tears: the effect of meniscectomy and of repair on intraarticular contact areas and stress in the human knee. A preliminary report. Am J Sports Med. 1986 Jul-Aug;14(4):270-5 - PubMed
    1. Magnussen RA, Mansour AA, Carey JL, Spindler KP. Meniscus status at anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction associated with radiographic signs of osteoarthritis at 5- to 10-year follow-up: a systematic review. J Knee Surg. 2009 Oct;22(4):347-57 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ihn JC, Kim SJ, Park IH. In vitro study of contact area and pressure distribution in the human knee after partial and total meniscectomy. Int Orthop. 1993;17(4):214-8 - PubMed