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
. 2019 Jun;27(6):1825-1839.
doi: 10.1007/s00167-019-05504-4. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Meniscal allograft transplantation after meniscectomy: clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness

Norman Waugh  1 , Hema Mistry  2 , Andrew Metcalfe  3 , Emma Loveman  4 , Jill Colquitt  4 , Pamela Royle  2 , Nick A Smith  5 , Tim Spalding  5
Affiliations

Meniscal allograft transplantation after meniscectomy: clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness

Norman Waugh et al. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of meniscal allograft transplantation (MAT) after meniscal injury and subsequent meniscectomy.

Methods: Systematic review of clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Results: There is considerable evidence from observational studies, of improvement in symptoms after meniscal allograft transplantation, but we found only one small pilot trial with a randomised comparison with a control group that received non-surgical care. MAT has not yet been proven to be chondroprotective. Cost-effectiveness analysis is not possible due to a lack of data on the effectiveness of MAT compared to non-surgical care.

Conclusion: The benefits of MAT include symptomatic relief and restoration of at least some previous activities, which will be reflected in utility values and hence in quality-adjusted life years, and in the longer term, prevention or delay of osteoarthritis, and avoidance or postponement of some knee replacements, with resulting savings. It is likely to be cost-effective, but this cannot be proven on the basis of present evidence.

Level of evidence: IV.

Keywords: Cost-effectiveness; Meniscal allograft transplantation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no potential conflict of interest.

References

    1. Abat F, Gelber PE, Erquicia JI, Tey M, Gonzalez-Lucena G, Monllau JC. Prospective comparative study between two different fixation techniques in meniscal allograft transplantation. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2013;21:1516–1522. doi: 10.1007/s00167-012-2032-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Abrams GD, Hussey K, Harris JD, Cole BJ. Combined meniscus and osteochondral allograft transplantation: minimum two-year follow-up with an analysis of failures. Orthop J Sports Med. 2014 - PubMed
    1. Abrams GD, Hussey KE, Harris JD, Cole BJ. Clinical results of combined meniscus and femoral osteochondral allograft transplantation: minimum 2-year follow-up. Arthroscopy. 2014;30:964–970.e961. doi: 10.1016/j.arthro.2014.03.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ahn JH, Kang HW, Yang TY, Lee JY. Risk factors for radiographic progression of osteoarthritis after meniscus allograft transplantation. Arthroscopy. 2016;32:2539–2546. doi: 10.1016/j.arthro.2016.04.023. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Allen PR, Denham RA, Swan AV. Late degenerative changes after meniscectomy. Factors affecting the knee after operation. J Bone Jt Surg Br. 1984;66:666–671. doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.66B5.6548755. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources