Aim: To determine the influence of concomitant partial meniscal resection on the medium-term clinical results after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.

Method: Four hundred and sixty patients fulfilled the criteria for inclusion in this multi-center study. Four hundred and twelve of the 460 (90%) patients were re-examined by independent observers after a median 41 months (range: 24 months to 60 months). At the initial operation resection of a minimum of one third of the medial or lateral menisci was performed in 137 patients. The remaining 275 patients had stable, intact menisci. Patients who had undergone previous or subsequent meniscal surgery, a re-rupture of the ACL graft, or had an abnormal contralateral limb were excluded from the study.

Results: The patients who underwent concomitant meniscal resection at the ACL reconstruction had significantly more pain (p=0.012), a greater incidence of loss of motion (p=0.0006), increased laxity (p=0.001) and lower IKDC (p< 0.0001) and Lysholm (p< 0.0001) evaluation scores than patients who had intact menisci.

Conclusion: At the medium-term clinical follow-up the patients who underwent partial meniscal resection in conjunction with the ACL reconstruction revealed significantly worse subjective and objective measurements than the patients who had intact menisci. These findings demonstrated the effect of meniscectomy on the surgical outcome of ACL reconstruction and emphasised the importance of intact menisci for the function of the knee joint.