Aims. The aim of this study was to compare patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) following isolated anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), with those following ACLR and concomitant meniscal resection or repair. Methods. We reviewed prospectively collected data from the UK National Ligament Registry for patients who underwent primary ACLR between January 2013 and December 2022. Patients were categorized into five groups: isolated ACLR, ACLR with medial meniscus (MM) repair, ACLR with MM resection, ACLR with lateral meniscus (LM) repair, and ACLR with LM resection. Linear regression analysis, with isolated ACLR as the reference, was performed after adjusting for confounders. Results. From 14,895 ACLR patients, 4,400 had two- or five-year Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores (KOOS) available. At two years postoperatively, the MM repair group demonstrated inferior scores in KOOS pain (β = −3.63, p < 0.001), symptoms (β = − 4.88, p < 0.001), ADL (β = − 2.43, p = 0.002), sport and recreation (β = − 5.23, p < 0.001), quality of life (QoL) (β = − 5.73, p < 0.001), and International Knee Documentation Committee (β = − 4.1, p < 0.001) compared with the isolated ACLR group. The LM repair group was associated with worse KOOS sports and recreation scores at two years (β = − 4.264, p < 0.001). At five years, PROMs were comparable between the groups. At five years, PROMs were comparable between the groups. Participants undergoing ACLR surgery within 12 weeks from index injury demonstrated superior PROMs at two and five years. Conclusion. Our study showed that MM repair, and to a lesser extent LM repairs in combination with ACLR, were associated with inferior patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) compared to isolated ACLR at two years postoperatively, while meniscal resection groups exhibited comparable outcomes. However, by five years postoperation, no significant differences in PROMs were evident. Further longer-term, cross-sectional studies are warranted to investigate the outcomes of ACLR and concomitant meniscal surgery

Abstract. Introduction. Meniscal repair is an accepted surgical option for meniscal tears. However, there remains trepidation with regard to offering such surgery to older patients. We aim to evaluate the outcomes in these such patients. Methodology. A single surgeons log was used to identify patients who underwent meniscal repair and were over the age of 40. Patients having concurrent anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions were excluded. Demographic data, surgical data and outcomes (pain visual analogue score (VAS); single assessment numerical evaluation (SANE) and knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome joint replacement (KOOS Jr) score) were collected prospectively. Final outcomes were collected between 6–12 months following surgery. Results. 24 meniscal tears in 22 knees (22 patients) were identified. Mean age was 52.2 (range; 40.6-70.3). Morphology of the tears were medial meniscus posterior root tear 10 (42%); medial meniscus posterior horn tear 9 (38%); lateral meniscus posterior horn tear 2 (8.3%); lateral meniscus posterior root tear 1 (4.2%); lateral meniscus body tear 1 (4.2%) and lateral meniscus anterior horn tear 1 (4.2%). Response rate was 86%. Statistically significant improvements in pain VAS (p=0.0001); SANE (p=0.0001) and KOOS Jr Score (p=0.0005) were found. 68% and 74% of patients had surpassed the MCID in their KOOS symptoms and KOOS quality of life subscales, respectively. Conclusion. Meniscal repair in patients over 40 years of age is an acceptable treatment with significant improvements in patients reported outcome measures, SANE and pain VAS

Abstract. Introduction. The popularity of all-inside meniscal repair devices has led to a shift away from inside-out meniscus repair without comparative studies to support the change. The aim of this study was to compare the failure rate and time to failure of all-inside and inside-out meniscus repair performed in elite athletes. Methodology. A retrospective review was performed of all elite athletes who underwent meniscal repair, with a minimum of two-year follow-up between 2013 and 2019. Repairs were classified as all-inside or inside-out according to the repair technique. Failure was defined as undergoing a subsequent surgery to address a persistent meniscal tear. Results. 192 (135 lateral and 57 medial) meniscal repairs in elite athletes were included and 41 (21%) failed. Medial meniscus tears repaired with the all-inside technique failed at a significantly higher rate (58%) than medial meniscus tears repaired with the inside-out (23%) or lateral meniscus tears repaired with the all-inside (12%) or inside-out (14%) technique (p<.001). At 1 year following repair, 8% of lateral meniscus repairs had failed regardless of technique. Medial meniscus repairs failed at an approximate rate of 15% for inside-out technique and 42% for all-inside technique. By 2 years, approximately 54% of all-inside medial meniscus repairs had failed and by 5 years over 60% of repairs had failed. Conclusion. All-inside medial meniscal repair led to a higher rate of failure compared to inside-out medial or lateral meniscus repair in elite athletes. Medial meniscus repairs failed at a high rate than lateral meniscal repairs

Abstract. Introduction. High posterior tibial slope (PTS) has been recognised as a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament rupture and graft failure. This prospective randomised study looked at intra-operative findings of concomitant intra-articular meniscal and chondral injuries during a planned ACL reconstruction. Material and Methods. Prospective data was collected as part of a randomised trial for ACL reconstruction techniques. Intra-operative data was collected and these findings were compared with the PTS measured on plain radiograph by a single person twice through a standardised technique and intra-observer analysis was performed. Results. 49 confirmed ACL rupture patients were in the trial. The average age was 34 (23–66) years and 12 patients were female. 17 patients (34%) had PTS of 12 degrees or more. The intra-observer analysis for PTS measurements in a 2-sided paired T test, showed a mean difference of 0.03 degrees with a P value = 0.83. 23 patients had medial meniscal pathology identified, 15 (65%) had a PTS <12 degrees. 16 patients had lateral meniscus pathology and 9 (56%) had a PTS <12 degrees. Chondral damage did not appear significantly different in the two groups (<12 degrees 15% vs >12 degrees 23%). Conclusion. In this sample, a PTS >12 degrees was not associated with a higher incidence of meniscal or chondral damage after a confirmed ACL rupture

Abstract. Introduction. The outcome of revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R) is guarded, particularly their return to sports activities. It is important to know the factors affecting the functional outcomes following a revision ACL-R. Methods. We analysed results from 39 patients, who underwent a revision ACL reconstruction by a single surgeon and was followed up over a year. Some of them were treated in 2-stage revision while the rest were single-stage revision, depending upon their size of bone tunnel or osteolysis as assessed by pre-operative CT scan. Result. We analysed data from 39 patients with a mean age of 31 (17–52) and an average follow-up of 3.6 years (2–5 years). The average KOOS quality of life score was 58.94 (±23.02) and the mean Lysholm score was 89.48 (±10.1). Medial meniscal tear was significantly correlated with Lysholm score (p<0.005), but not with KOOS-QOL. Tear in lateral meniscus was not related significantly. Patients having Grade II or above cartilage damage showed inferior outcomes in terms of Lysholm score and poor return to sports, and it was statistically significant (p<0.02). There was no significant differences in outcomes between single stage revision and 2-stage revision (p=0.336). 15 patients (42.5%) returned to their pre-injury sports activities after revision surgery with the mean return to sports score of 58.65 (±16.1). Conclusions. The long-term functional outcome after revision ACL reconstruction is satisfactory, but not the return to sports. Expectations on outcome should be carefully managed particularly those having concomitant medial meniscal injury or cartilage damage

Objectives. Patient-specific (PS) implantation surgical technology has been introduced in recent years and a gradual increase in the associated number of surgical cases has been observed. PS technology uses a patient’s own geometry in designing a medical device to provide minimal bone resection with improvement in the prosthetic bone coverage. However, whether PS unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) provides a better biomechanical effect than standard off-the-shelf prostheses for UKA has not yet been determined, and still remains controversial in both biomechanical and clinical fields. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the biomechanical effect between PS and standard off-the-shelf prostheses for UKA. Methods. The contact stresses on the polyethylene (PE) insert, articular cartilage and lateral meniscus were evaluated in PS and standard off-the-shelf prostheses for UKA using a validated finite element model. Gait cycle loading was applied to evaluate the biomechanical effect in the PS and standard UKAs. Results. The contact stresses on the PE insert were similar for both the PS and standard UKAs. Compared with the standard UKA, the PS UKA did not show any biomechanical effect on the medial PE insert. However, the contact stresses on the articular cartilage and the meniscus in the lateral compartment following the PS UKA exhibited closer values to the healthy knee joint compared with the standard UKA. Conclusion. The PS UKA provided mechanics closer to those of the normal knee joint. The decreased contact stress on the opposite compartment may reduce the overall risk of progressive osteoarthritis. Cite this article: K-T. Kang, J. Son, D-S. Suh, S. K. Kwon, O-R. Kwon, Y-G. Koh. Patient-specific medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty has a greater protective effect on articular cartilage in the lateral compartment: A Finite Element Analysis. Bone Joint Res 2018;7:20–27. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.71.BJR-2017-0115.R2

We present the first study in vivo of meniscal movement in normal knees under load. Using an open MR scanner, allowing imaging in physiological positions in near to real-time, 16 young footballers were scanned moving from full extension to 90° flexion in the sagittal and coronal planes. Excursion of the meniscal horns, radial displacement and meniscal height were measured. On weight-bearing, the anterior horn of the medial meniscus moves through a mean of 7.1 mm and the posterior horn through 3.9 mm, with 3.6 mm of mediolateral radial displacement. The height of the anterior horn increases by 2.6 mm and that of the posterior horn by 2.0 mm. The anterior horn of the lateral meniscus moves 9.5 mm and the posterior horn 5.6 mm, with 3.7 mm of radial displacement. The height of the anterior horn increases by 4.0 mm, and that of the posterior horn by 2.4 mm. In non-weight-bearing, the anterior horn of the medial meniscus moves 5.4 mm and the posterior horn 3.8 mm, with 3.3 mm of radial displacement. The anterior horn of the lateral meniscus moves 6.3 mm, and the posterior horn 4.0 mm, with 3.4 mm of radial displacement. The most significant differences between weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing were the movement and vertical height of the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus

Aims

Sagittal plane imbalance (SPI), or asymmetry between extension and flexion gaps, is an important issue in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this study was to compare SPI between kinematic alignment (KA), mechanical alignment (MA), and functional alignment (FA) strategies.

Purposes of the study. To assess the performance of an acellular synthetic scaffold in the treatment of painful partial meniscal tissue loss. Methods. Subjects recruited (n=52) had irreparable medial or lateral meniscus partial meniscus loss, intact rim, presence of both horns and a stable well aligned knee. Diagnostic imaging was used to assess tissue ingrowth at 3 months post-implantation by evidence of vascularisation in the scaffold using DCE-MRI with intravenous gadolinium contrast material (n=42). All DCE-MRI scans were assessed centrally for neovascularisation in the peripheral half of the scaffold meniscus and integration of the implanted device. Stability of tissue ingrowth and cartilage scores in the index compartment were assessed at 12 and 24 months post-implantation using anatomic MRI scans. Results. The 52 patients recruited (75% males) had a mean age of 30.8 ± 9.4 years and mean longitudinally measured lesions of 47.1 ± 10.0 mm, involving 34 medial and 18 lateral indications. At 3 months post-implantation tissue ingrowth was demonstrated in the peripheral half of the scaffold, in 36/42 (85.7%) subjects. To date stable or improved cartilage scores were seen in the index compartment at 12 months (n= 47) and 24 months (n=9). No signs of an inflammatory reaction to the scaffold or its degradation products were observed. The tissue observed on MRI at 12 months (n=47) remained stable at 24 months (n=9). No safety issues related to the scaffold were reported. Conclusions. These preliminary results indicate that this novel scaffold induces ingrowth of stable tissue

Purpose. To assess performance of a polyurethane scaffold designed to facilitate regrowth of tissue after irreparable partial meniscus tissue loss. Methods. Fifty-two subjects with irreparable medial or lateral meniscus tissue lesions with intact rim, presence of both horns and stable, well aligned knees, were treated with the scaffold. Tissue ingrowth was assessed using dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) at 3 months (n=43), and by histological examination of biopsies (n=44) at 12 months relook arthroscopy. Cartilage status on MRI at 1week, 3, 12 and 24 months, and clinical outcomes were assessed from baseline to 24 months using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Knee and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Lysholm and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC). Results. Clinically and statistically significant improvements on all outcome scores were observed at 6, 12 and 24 months. On MRI, stable or improved ICRS scores in all but 3 subjects (n=40) at 24 months were observed, with no signs of scaffold related cartilage damage. All biopsies contained vital material, with no signs of necrosis, cell death (presence of cell pods, ghost cells, cells with defragmented nuclei), or adverse reaction to the scaffold or its degradation products. A fibrous capsule and three distinct layers were observed, each with its own unique histological characteristics, including presence or absence of vessel structures, and the composition of extracellular matrix. In one case with unknown causality, the scaffold did not integrated with the native tissue. No safety issues related to the scaffold were reported. Conclusions. These data demonstrate the safety and performance of the polyurethane scaffold and illustrate new tissue generation resulting in significant pain reduction and functional improvement

We describe a prospective survival analysis of 63 consecutive meniscal allografts transplanted into 57 patients. The lateral meniscus was transplanted in 34, the medial meniscus in 17, and both menisci (combined) in the same knee in six. For survival analysis we used persistent pain or mechanical damage as clinical criteria of failure. A total of 13 allografts failed (5 lateral, 7 medial, 1 medial and lateral). A significant negative correlation (p = 0.003) was found between rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and successful meniscal transplantation. A significant difference (p = 0.004) in the clinical results was found between lateral and medial meniscal transplants. The cumulative survival rate of the lateral, medial and combined allografts in the same knee, based on the life-table method and the Kaplan-Meier calculation, was 76%, 50% and 67%, respectively. The survival of medial meniscal allografts may improve when reconstruction of the ACL is carried out at the same time as meniscal transplantation in an ACL-deficient knee

The meniscofemoral ligaments were studied in 84 fresh-frozen knees from 49 cadavers. Combined anterior and posterior approaches were used to identify the ligaments. In total, 78 specimens (93%) contained at least one meniscofemoral ligament. The anterior meniscofemoral ligament (aMFL) was present in 62 specimens (74%), and the posterior meniscofemoral ligament (pMFL) in 58 (69%). The 42 specimens (50%) in which both ligaments were present were from a significantly younger population than that with one MFL or none (p < 0.05). Several anatomical variations were identified, including oblique fibres of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), which were seen in 16 specimens (19%). These were termed the ‘false pMFL’. The high incidence of MFLs and their anatomical variations should be borne in mind during arthroscopic and radiological examination of the PCL. It is important to recognise the oblique fibres of the PCL on MRI in order to avoid wrongly identifying them as either a pMFL or a tear of the lateral meniscus. The increased incidence of MFLs in younger donors suggests that they degenerate with age

Aims

Meniscal injuries are common and often induce knee pain requiring surgical intervention. To develop effective strategies for meniscus regeneration, we hypothesized that a minced meniscus embedded in an atelocollagen gel, a firm gel-like material, may enhance meniscus regeneration through cell migration and proliferation in the gel. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate cell migration and proliferation in atelocollagen gels seeded with autologous meniscus fragments in vitro and examine the therapeutic potential of this combination in an in vivo rabbit model of massive meniscus defect.

Aims

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture commonly leads to post-traumatic osteoarthritis, regardless of surgical reconstruction. This study uses standing MRI to investigate changes in contact area, contact centroid location, and tibiofemoral alignment between ACL-injured knees and healthy controls, to examine the effect of ACL reconstruction on these parameters.

Aims

Commonly performed unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is not designed for the lateral compartment. Additionally, the anatomical medial and lateral tibial plateaus have asymmetrical geometries, with a slightly dished medial plateau and a convex lateral plateau. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the native knee kinematics with respect to the tibial insert design corresponding to the lateral femoral component.

Aim

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have several properties that may support their use as an early treatment option for osteoarthritis (OA). This study investigated the role of multiple injections of allogeneic bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) to alleviate the progression of osteoarthritic changes in the various structures of the mature rabbit knee in an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient OA model.

Aims

To compare time dependent functional improvement for patients with medial, respectively lateral knee osteoarthritis (OA) after treatment with opening wedge osteotomy relieving the pressure on the osteoarthritic part of the knee.

Aims

The aims of this study were to determine the effect of osteophyte excision on deformity correction and soft tissue gap balance in varus knees undergoing computer-assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Objectives

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is an alternative to total knee arthroplasty for patients who require treatment of single-compartment osteoarthritis, especially for young patients. To satisfy this requirement, new patient-specific prosthetic designs have been introduced. The patient-specific UKA is designed on the basis of data from preoperative medical images. In general, knee implant design with increased conformity has been developed to provide lower contact stress and reduced wear on the tibial insert compared with flat knee designs. The different tibiofemoral conformity may provide designers the opportunity to address both wear and kinematic design goals simultaneously. The aim of this study was to evaluate wear prediction with respect to tibiofemoral conformity design in patient-specific UKA under gait loading conditions by using a previously validated computational wear method.

Objectives

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is an alternative to total knee arthroplasty with isolated medial or lateral compartment osteoarthritis. However, polyethylene wear can significantly reduce the lifespan of UKA. Different bearing designs and materials for UKA have been developed to change the rate of polyethylene wear. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of insert conformity and material on the predicted wear in mobile-bearing UKA using a previously developed computational wear method.