Advances in arthroscopic surgery

Abstract

Removal of the whole meniscus from the knee has been shown to be associated with a high incidence of degenerative change. The degeneration is proportional to the amount of meniscus removed. After meniscal injury, retention of the meniscus in part (partial meniscectomy) or in whole (meniscal suture) is preferable. Replacement of a previously removed meniscus (meniscal transplantation) may be feasible in the future. Fifty patients had arthroscopic partial meniscectomies performed alternately by standard mechanical techniques or by electrosurgical techniques. The latter group was found to have less pain and swelling. Another 46 patients had meniscal sutures performed on one or more menisci. Twenty-one of these patients had a follow-up arthroscopy for recurrence of symptoms and only one meniscus had not healed. Another single patient had a meniscal transplant, and a follow-up arthroscopy six months after surgery revealed the meniscus to be largely intact.