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
. 2021 Dec;29(12):4223-4231.
doi: 10.1007/s00167-021-06534-7. Epub 2021 Mar 21.

No decrease in incidence of arthroscopic meniscectomy in a Canadian province

Emily W Chan  1   2 , Richard C Chaulk  3 , Yanzhao Cheng  3 , Jason Shin  3   4   5
Affiliations

No decrease in incidence of arthroscopic meniscectomy in a Canadian province

Emily W Chan et al. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: Arthroscopic meniscectomy (APM) is the most common procedure in orthopedic surgery, despite increasing evidence questioning its benefit over conservative management for treatment of degenerative meniscal tears. The purpose of this study is to determine the epidemiology and trends of APM in Saskatchewan, a Canadian province, over a 20 year period.

Methods: Physician billing codes were used to identify patients who underwent APM in Saskatchewan between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2017. Records were obtained from eHealth Saskatchewan, a provincial health database. Data was analyzed for overall incidence and age-specific trends of APM.

Results: A total of 35,099 APMs were performed during the study period. The population of Saskatchewan ranged from 992,314 to 1,150,782 (median 1,017,368) during this time interval, with 81 orthopedic surgeons performing APM. Overall incidence rate of APM did not change significantly over time. No decrease was observed in patients presumed to have degenerative tears (≥ 50 years). The number of meniscectomies in patients ≥ 50 years was significantly greater during the second decade of study compared to the first (OR 1.48, p < 0.01). Conversely, the increase in incidence rate among older patients was not statistically significant (R2 = 0.125, n.s.).

Conclusion: Overall incidence rate of APM in Saskatchewan has not decreased during the last 20 years. Furthermore, APM frequency increased over time for individuals ≥ 50 years. Several regional factors may have contributed to these findings, including the large proportion of Saskatchewan residents engaged in physically demanding work and barriers to accessing physiotherapy services. Given recent evidence disputing the benefit of APM over conservative measures, this study highlights the need for improved dissemination of evidence, as well as the importance of an individualized treatment plan to address patient-specific factors.

Level of evidence: Level IV.

Keywords: Arthroscopy; Knee; Meniscectomy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Abram SGF, Hopewell S, Monk AP, Bayliss LE, Beard DJ, Price AJ (2020) Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for meniscal tears of the knee: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med 54:652–663 - PubMed
    1. Abrams GD, Frank RM, Gupta AK, Harris JD, McCormick FM, Cole BJ (2013) Trends in meniscus repair and meniscectomy in the United States, 2005–2011. Am J Sports Med 41:2333–2339 - PubMed
    1. Arthroscopy Association of C, Wong I, Hiemstra L, Ayeni OR, Getgood A, Beavis C, et al (2018) Position statement of the arthroscopy association of Canada (AAC) concerning arthroscopy of the knee joint-september 2017. Orthop J Sports Med 6:2325967118756597
    1. Austin PC, Mamdani MM, Tu K, Jaakkimainen L (2003) Prescriptions for estrogen replacement therapy in Ontario before and after publication of the women’s health initiative study. JAMA 289:3241–3242 - PubMed
    1. Barua B, Fathers F (2014) Waiting your turn: Wait time for health care in Canada, 2014 report. Frasier Institute

LinkOut - more resources