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Review
. 2021 Oct 22;9(10):23259671211038289.
doi: 10.1177/23259671211038289. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Second-Look Arthroscopic Evaluation of Healing Rates After Arthroscopic Repair of Meniscal Tears: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Wenli Dai  1 , Xi Leng  2 , Jian Wang  3 , Xiaoqing Hu  1 , Yingfang Ao  1
Affiliations
Review

Second-Look Arthroscopic Evaluation of Healing Rates After Arthroscopic Repair of Meniscal Tears: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Wenli Dai et al. Orthop J Sports Med. .

Abstract

Background: Evaluation of meniscal healing status after repair is important, as it allows the surgeon to inform patients whether they can increase their activities or return to sports.

Purpose: To identify the healing rates after arthroscopic repair of meniscal tears via second-look arthroscopic evaluation.

Study design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods: Searches of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane databases were conducted to identify relevant studies published before June 1, 2020. Studies were eligible for this meta-analysis if they provided data regarding healing status of the meniscus at second-look arthroscopy. Random-effects meta-analyses were generated to provide pooled meniscal healing estimates. We further performed subgroup analysis to investigate the healing rates of the meniscus under different situations.

Results: A total of 41 studies with 1908 individuals were included in the study. The pooled analysis showed the complete healing rate was 74% (95% confidence interval [CI], 67%-80%), the partial healing rate was 10% (95% CI, 6%-16%), and the failure rate was 12% (95% CI, 10%-15%) for arthroscopic repair of meniscal tears via second-look arthroscopic evaluation. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that no individual study affected the overall healing rate by >1%. Subgroup analysis found higher meniscal healing rates in patients with the following characteristics: age <40 years, male, body mass index <26, red-red tear location, tear in posterior horn, vertical tear, outside-in technique, repair concomitant with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, weight-restricted rehabilitation, and time interval from meniscal repair to second-look arthroscopy >12 months.

Conclusion: In this systematic review, the complete healing rate was 74%, the partial healing rate was 10%, and the failure rate was 12% for arthroscopic repair of meniscal tears via second-look arthroscopic evaluation.

Keywords: healing rates; meniscal repair; meniscus; second-look arthroscopy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this contribution. AOSSM checks author disclosures against the Open Payments Database (OPD). AOSSM has not conducted an independent investigation on the OPD and disclaims any liability or responsibility relating thereto.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flowchart illustrating the literature search.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Forest plot of overall complete meniscal healing rate of repaired meniscal tears by second-look arthroscopic evaluation.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Forest plot of overall partial meniscal healing rate of repaired meniscal tears by second-look arthroscopic evaluation.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Forest plot of overall failure rate of repaired meniscal tears by second-look arthroscopic evaluation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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