Abstract
There has been very little documented regarding the impact of meniscal injuries on knee proprioception. The aim of this study was to investigate the proprioceptive function of patients with meniscal tears and asses the influence that arthroscopic partial menisectomy has on knee proprioception.
One hundred subjects were recruited comprising an Arthroscopy group (50 patients) and a Normal Control group (50 subjects). The Biodex Balance SD System was used to assess proprioception. This equipment measures knee proprioception on an electronic platform. The balance of the subject is computed producing an Overall Stability Index (OSI). Lower scores reflect better proprioception. Knee stability was assessed clinically and with the Rolimeter knee arthrometer. The Lysholm and IKDC scoring systems were used to evaluate all the subjects.
Of the 50 subjects within the Arthroscopy group (all of whom had a normal ACL confirmed) 34 were found to have meniscal tears. Twenty-nine of the 34 patients with meniscal tears returned for their follow-up review 3 months post-operatively.
The proprioceptive function of the injured knee of the Arthroscopy group with meniscal tears (mean OSI 0.86) was significantly poorer compared to that of their uninjured knee (mean OSI 0.62, p< 0.001, 95%CI 0.14, 0.34) and to the Normal Control group (mean OSI 0.49, p< 0.001, 95%CI 0.21, 0.54). There was no significant improvement in their proprioceptive function following menisectomy (mean OSI 0.75, p=0.23, 95%CI −0.07, 0.28). There was a significant improvement of both the Lysholm (p=0.004) and IKDC (p=0.021) scores postoperatively.
Conclusion: These results indicate that there is a demonstrable proprioceptive deficit in patients with meniscal tears even in the presence of a normal ACL. This deficiency in proprioception did not improve within three months following arthroscopic partial menisectomy despite the improvement in functional outcome measures.
The abstracts were prepared by Mr Matt Costa and Mr Ben Ollivere. Correspondence should be addressed to Mr Costa at Clinical Sciences Research Institute, University of Warwick, Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK.
