Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture with associated meniscal pathology commonly occurs in a young, active population. Preserving a greater proportion of the meniscus may improve long-term outcomes by maintaining shock absorption and knee stability. However, meniscal repair procedures involve longer healing and rehabilitation than meniscal debridement, which could affect return to work and activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the functional outcomes and quality of life scores through two years in patients undergoing ACL reconstruction (ACL-R) who had meniscal repair, meniscal debridement, or no meniscal damage at the time of reconstruction.

Data for 1814 skeletally mature patients with isolated primary ACL-R was prospectively collected at a single centre from January 2010 to December 2015. Functional testing of operative to non-operative limb performance was completed at one- and two-years following surgery and included single-leg balance, single-leg hop for distance, timed six-meter hop, triple-hop for distance, and triple cross-over hop for distance. ACL-Quality-of-life questionnaires (ACL-QoL) were completed pre-operatively and at 1- and 2-years post-operatively. Descriptive statistics were completed for patient demographics and intra-operative pathology. Unpaired t-tests using 95% confidence intervals were conducted to compare groups.

The patient cohort was 45% female, with a mean age of 31 years (SD 11, range 14–66). Meniscal injury was detected in 1229/1814 knees (67.8%). There were 729 debridements and 538 repairs performed. Graft choice was hamstring autograft in 85.8% of cases, bone-patellar-tendon-bone autograft in 2.5%, allograft in 10.1% and other graft types in 1.5%. Pre-operative ACL-QoL scores were 29 and 28.5 for knees without and with meniscal damage, respectively (p>0.05).

Of 1814 patients, 1269 (69.9%) completed the ACL-QoL at the two-year appointment, and 1225 (67.5%) completed the functional testing. At two years post-operative, patients with no meniscal damage at surgery demonstrated superior limb symmetry performance on triple-hop for distance compared to patients with meniscal damage (98.4% vs 97.1%, p < 0 .05, CI 0.1–2.5%). No other functional testing parameters showed statistical significance. There was no difference in functional outcome between patients undergoing an isolated meniscal repair versus debridement at one- or two-years. ACL-QoL scores were statistically significantly higher at one- and two-years post-operative for patients without meniscal damage (1-year: 73 vs 70.2, p < 0 .05, CI 0.51–5.1, 2-years: 79.2 vs 76.1, p < 0 .05, CI 0.79–5.4). ACL-QoL scores were minimally higher for isolated meniscal debridement compared to isolated meniscal repair at both time points (1-year: 71.4 vs 68, p < 0 .05, CI 0.4–6.4, 2-years: 78.3 vs 74, p < 0 .05, CI 1.3–7.3).

Functional outcomes do not differ at one or two years post-operatively for patients undergoing meniscal repair versus debridement concomitant with ACL-R. Quality of life scores were statistically significantly higher for the patients with no meniscal pathology at both one- and two-years post-operative. ACL-QoL scores were also statistically significantly different for the meniscal repair and debridement groups however these differences are unlikely to be clinically significant. Extended follow-up is needed to determine if the differences detected in ACL-QoL scores are sustained over time, as well as the long-term role of meniscal injury on functional outcomes.