Aims. The best surgical strategy for the management of displaced bucket-handle (BH) meniscal tears in an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knee is unclear. Combining meniscal repair with ACL reconstruction (ACLR) is thought to improve meniscal healing rates; however, patients with displaced BH meniscal tears may lack extension. This leads some to advocate staged surgery to avoid postoperative stiffness and loss of range of motion (ROM) following ACLR. Methods. We reviewed the data for a consecutive series of 88 patients (mean age 27.1 years (15 to 49); 65 male (74%) and 23 female (26%)) who underwent single-stage repair of a displaced BH meniscal tear (67 medial (76%) and 21 lateral (24%)) with concomitant hamstring autograft ACLR. The patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) EuroQol visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS), EuroQol five-dimension health questionnaire (EQ-5D), Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), International Knee Documentation Committee score (IKDC), and Tegner score were recorded at final follow-up. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to estimate meniscal repair survivorship. Analyses were performed with different cut-offs for meniscal and ACL injury-to-surgery time (within three weeks, three to ten weeks, and more than ten weeks). Results. Meniscal repair survivorship at a median final follow-up of 55 months (interquartile range (IQR) 24 to 91) was 82% (95% confidence interval 70 to 89). A total of 13 meniscus repairs failed (12 requiring meniscectomy and one requiring a further meniscal repair). At final follow-up, median PROMs were: EQ-VAS 85 (IQR 75 to 90), EQ-5D Index 0.84 (IQR 0.74 to 1.00), KOOS Pain 89 (IQR 80 to 94), KOOS Symptoms 82 (IQR 71 to 93), KOOS Activities of Daily Living 97 (IQR 91 to 100), KOOS Sport and Recreation 80 (IQR 65 to 90), KOOS Quality of Life 69 (IQR 53 to 86), IKDC 82.8 (IQR 67.8 to 90.8), and Tegner 6 (IQR 4 to 7). Two patients underwent revision ACLR following further injuries. One patient had an arthroscopic washout for infection at 11 days post-BH meniscal repair/ACLR. Four patients (4.5%) required a further procedure for stiffness, reduced ROM, and pain, and all were operated on within three weeks of meniscal injury. There was no difference in the interval between meniscal injury and surgery between repairs that failed and those that survived. Conclusion. These data suggest that concomitant ACLR with repair of displaced BH meniscal tears, even if they have been displaced for some time, appears to afford satisfactory PROMs and good survivorship. Repairs within three weeks of meniscal injury may be associated with higher rates of postoperative reintervention for stiffness. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2022;104-B(6):680–686

Aims. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy versus physical therapy plus optional delayed arthroscopic partial meniscectomy in young patients aged under 45 years with traumatic meniscal tears. Methods. We conducted a multicentre, open-labelled, randomized controlled trial in patients aged 18 to 45 years, with a recent onset, traumatic, MRI-verified, isolated meniscal tear without knee osteoarthritis. Patients were randomized to arthroscopic partial meniscectomy or standardized physical therapy with an optional delayed arthroscopic partial meniscectomy after three months of follow-up. We performed a cost-utility analysis on the randomization groups to compare both treatments over a 24-month follow-up period. Cost utility was calculated as incremental costs per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy compared to physical therapy. Calculations were performed from a healthcare system perspective and a societal perspective. Results. A total of 100 patients were included: 49 were randomized to arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and 51 to physical therapy. In the physical therapy group, 21 patients (41%) received delayed arthroscopic partial meniscectomy during follow-up. Over 24 months, patients in the arthroscopic partial meniscectomy group had a mean 0.005 QALYs lower quality of life (95% confidence interval -0.13 to 0.14). The cost-utility ratio was €-160,000/QALY from the healthcare perspective and €-223,372/QALY from the societal perspective, indicating that arthroscopic partial meniscectomy incurs additional costs without any added health benefit. Conclusion. Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy is arthroscopic partial meniscectomy is unlikely to be cost-effective in treating young patients with isolated traumatic meniscal tears compared to physical therapy as a primary health intervention. Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy leads to a similar quality of life, but higher costs, compared to physical therapy plus optional delayed arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2023;105-B(11):1177–1183

The diagnosis of a meniscal tear may require MRI, which is costly. Ultrasonography has been used to image the meniscus, but there are no reliable data on its accuracy. We performed a prospective study investigating the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography in comparison with MRI; the final outcome was determined at arthroscopy. The study included 35 patients with a mean age of 47 years (14 to 73). There was a sensitivity of 86.4% (95% confidence interval (CI) 75 to 97.7), a specificity of 69.2% (95% CI 53.7 to 84.7), a positive predictive value of 82.6% (95% CI 70 to 95.2) and a negative predictive value of 75% (95% CI 60.7 to 81.1) for ultrasonography. This compared favourably with a sensitivity of 86.4% (95% CI 75 to 97.7), a specificity of 100.0%, a positive predictive value of 100.0% and a negative predictive value of 81.3% (95% CI 74.7 to 87.9) for MRI. Given that the sensitivity matched that of MRI we feel that ultrasonography can reasonably be applied to confirm the clinical diagnosis before undertaking arthroscopy. However, the lower specificity suggests that there is still a need to improve the technique to reduce the number of false-positive diagnoses and thus to avoid unnecessary arthroscopy

Aims. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term risk of undergoing knee arthroplasty in a cohort of patients with meniscal tears who had undergone arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM). Patients and Methods. A retrospective national cohort of patients with a history of isolated APM was identified over a 20-year period. Patients with prior surgery to the same knee were excluded. The primary outcome was knee arthroplasty. Hazard ratios (HRs) were adjusted by patient age, sex, year of APM, Charlson comorbidity index, regional deprivation, rurality, and ethnicity. Risk of arthroplasty in the index knee was compared with the patient’s contralateral knee (with vs without a history of APM). A total of 834 393 patients were included (mean age 50 years; 37% female). Results. Of those with at least 15 years of follow-up, 13.49% (16 256/120 493; 95% confidence interval (CI) 13.30 to 13.69) underwent subsequent arthroplasty within this time. In women, 22.07% (95% CI 21.64 to 22.51) underwent arthroplasty within 15 years compared with 9.91% of men (95% CI 9.71 to 10.12), corresponding to a risk ratio (RR) of 2.23 (95% CI 2.16 to 2.29). Relative to the general population, patients with a history of APM were over ten times more likely (RR 10.27; 95% CI 10.07 to 10.47) to undergo arthroplasty rising to almost 40 times more likely (RR 39.62; 95% CI 27.68 to 56.70) at a younger age (30 to 39 years). In patients with a history of APM in only one knee, the risk of arthroplasty in that knee was greatly elevated in comparison with the contralateral knee (no APM; HR 2.99; 95% CI 2.95 to 3.02). Conclusion. Patients developing a meniscal tear undergoing APM are at greater risk of knee arthroplasty than the general population. This risk is three-times greater in the patient’s affected knee than in the contralateral knee. Women in the cohort were at double the risk of progressing to knee arthroplasty compared with men. These important new reference data will inform shared decision making and enhance approaches to treatment, prevention, and clinical surveillance. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2019;101-B:1071–1080

We reviewed 5086 patients with a mean age of 30 years (9 to 69) undergoing primary reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in order to determine the incidence of secondary pathology with respect to the time between injury and reconstruction. There was an increasing incidence of medial meniscal tears and chondral damage, but not lateral meniscal tears, with increasing intervals before surgery. The chances of requiring medial meniscal surgery was increased by a factor of two if ACL reconstruction was delayed more than five months, and increased by a factor of six if surgery was delayed by > 12 months. The effect of delaying surgery on medial meniscal injury was also pronounced in the patients aged < 17 years, where a delay of five to 12 months doubled the odds of medial meniscal surgery (odds ratio (OR) 2.0, p = 0.001) and a delay of > 12 months quadrupled the odds (OR 4.3, p = 0.001). Increasing age was associated with a greater odds of chondral damage (OR 4.6, p = 0.001) and medial meniscal injury (OR 2.9, p = 0.001), but not lateral meniscal injury. The gender split (3251 men, 1835 women) revealed that males had a greater incidence of both lateral (34% (n = 1114) vs 20% (n = 364), p = 0.001) and medial meniscal tears (28% (n = 924) vs 25% (n = 457), p = 0.006), but not chondral damage (35% (n = 1152) vs 36% (n = 665), p = 0.565). We conclude that ideally, and particularly in younger patients, ACL reconstruction should not be delayed more than five months from injury. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2013;95-B:59–64

Aims

The aim of the British Association for Surgery of the Knee (BASK) Meniscal Consensus Project was to develop an evidence-based treatment guideline for patients with meniscal lesions of the knee.

We examined the menisci in 47 patients at the time of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Twenty-one patients had abnormal menisci at a mean of 34 months after injury, but there was no difference between the Lysholm scores of patients with intact or damaged menisci. Eleven patients had a new meniscal injury between reconstruction and review at a mean of six years later; only 15 patients had both menisci intact nine years after injury. If pivot shift had been cured, the incidence of meniscal injury was reduced, but remained higher than normal. If pivot shift returned after reconstruction there was a significantly higher incidence of meniscal injury. Meniscal lesions appear to be the result of instability and not the cause.

The February 2024 Knee Roundup. 360. looks at: Do patients with hypoallergenic total knee arthroplasty implants for metal allergy do worse? An analysis of healthcare utilizations and patient-reported outcome measures; Defining a successful total knee arthroplasty; Incidence, microbiological studies, and factors associated with periprosthetic joint infection after total knee arthroplasty; A modified Delphi consensus statement on patellar instability; Cause for concern? Significant cement coverage in retrieved metaphyseal cones after revision total knee arthroplasty; Prevalence of post-traumatic osteoarthritis after anterior cruciate ligament injury remains high despite advances in surgical techniques; Cost-effectiveness of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy versus physical therapy for traumatic meniscal tears in patients aged under 45 years

The October 2024 Knee Roundup. 360. looks at: Managing the unexpected: treatment of intraoperative medial collateral ligament injuries; Identifying subgroups of patients that may benefit from robotic arm-assisted total knee arthroplasty: secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial; Cost-effectiveness of enoxaparin versus aspirin in the prevention of venous thromboembolism after total hip or knee arthroplasty: an analysis from the CRISTAL cluster-randomized trial; Cartilage regeneration and long-term survival in medial knee osteoarthritis patients treated with high tibial osteotomy and osteochondral autologous transfer system; Treatment of chronic and complex meniscal tears with arthroscopic meniscus repair augmented with collagen matrix wrapping: failure rate and functional outcomes; Long-term outcomes of multiligament knee injuries in American football players

We reviewed 183 patients who had undergone reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. The incidence of meniscal tears and degenerative change was assessed and related to the timing from injury to surgery. Degenerative change was scored using the French Society of Arthroscopy system. The patients were divided into an early (surgery within 12 months of injury) and a late group (surgery more than 12 months from injury). The late group was also subdivided into four groups of 12-month periods ranging from one year to more than four years after injury. There was a significantly higher incidence of meniscal tears in patients undergoing reconstruction after 12 months compared with those in the early group (71.2% vs 41.7%; p < 0.001). This was due to a large increase in medial meniscal tears in the late group. An increased incidence of degenerative change was also found in the late group (31.3% vs 10.7%; p < 0.001). Analysis of the subgroups showed that the incidence of meniscal tears and degenerative change did not differ significantly when surgery was performed after 12 months from injury. We conclude that reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament should be carried out within 12 months of injury to minimise the risk of meniscal tears and degenerative change

We reviewed a single-surgeon series of 300 athletic patients who had undergone reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament in order to establish the relationship between the timing of the reconstruction and the incidence of meniscal and chondral pathology. The patients were divided into five groups according to the time from their injury to surgery as follows: less than two months, two to six months, six to 12 months, 12 to 18 months and more than 18 months. The presence of meniscal tears was recorded and chondral pathology was scored according to the system of the French Society of Arthroscopy. There was a significantly higher chance of a medial meniscal tear occurring in patients undergoing reconstruction after one year from their injury (odds ratio (7.99, p = 0.004). The odds of having a lateral meniscal tear did not change significantly with an increasing interval to reconstruction. The chance of patients developing degenerative changes was found to be significantly higher in the groups operated on after six months from injury (odds ratio 4.04, p = 0.005). We advocate that patients with deficiency of the anterior cruciate ligament should be counselled that there is a significant relationship between the duration of the instability of their knee and the subsequent incidence of both chondral changes and meniscal tears. In order to minimise these risks, we recommend that reconstruction be performed within the first year from injury

Aims. Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee commonly have degenerative meniscal tears. Arthroscopic meniscectomy is frequently performed, although the benefits are debatable. Recent studies have concluded that there is no role for arthroscopic washout in osteoarthritis of the knee. Our aim was to perform a systematic review to assess the evidence for the efficacy of arthroscopic meniscectomy in patients with meniscal tears and degenerative changes in the knee. Patients and Methods. A literature search was performed, using the PubMed/MEDLINE database, for relevant articles published between 1975 and 2015. A total of six studies, including five randomised controlled trials and one cross-sectional study of a prospective cohort, met the inclusion criteria. Relevant information including study design, operations, the characteristics of the patients, outcomes, adverse events and further operations were extracted. Results. The degree of osteoarthritis in the patients who were included and the rate of cross over from one form of treatment to another varied in the studies. Two randomised controlled trials showed a benefit of arthroscopic surgery in patients with limited degenerative joint disease, compared with conservative treatment. One cross-sectional study showed that patients with less severe degenerative changes had better outcomes. Conclusion. Patients with symptomatic meniscal tears and degenerative changes in the knee can benefit from arthroscopic meniscectomy, particularly if the osteoarthritis is mild. A trial of conservative management may be effective and should be considered, especially in patients with moderate osteoarthritis. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2016;98-B:934–8

We hypothesised that meniscal tears treated with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) together with a conventional suturing technique would show improved healing compared with those treated by a conventional suturing technique alone. In a controlled laboratory study 28 adult pigs (56 knees) underwent meniscal procedures after the creation of a radial incision to represent a tear. Group 1 (n = 9) had a radial meniscal tear which was left untreated. In group 2 (n = 19) the incision was repaired with sutures and fibrin glue and in group 3, the experimental group (n = 28), treatment was by MSCs, suturing and fibrin glue. At eight weeks, macroscopic examination of group 1 showed no healing in any specimens. In group 2 no healing was found in 12 specimens and incomplete healing in seven. The experimental group 3 had 21 specimens with complete healing, five with incomplete healing and two with no healing. Between the experimental group and each of the control groups this difference was significant (p < 0.001). The histological and macroscopic findings showed that the repair of meniscal tears in the avascular zone was significantly improved with MSCs, but that the mechanical properties of the healed menisci remained reduced

We reviewed 87 patients who underwent revision reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. The incidence of meniscal tears and degenerative change was assessed and related to the interval between failure of the primary graft and revision reconstruction. Patients were divided into two groups: early revision surgery within six months of graft failure, and delayed revision. Degenerative change was scored using the French Society of Arthroscopy system. There was a significantly higher incidence of articular cartilage degeneration in the delayed group (Mann-Whitney U-test, 53.2% vs 24%, p < 0.01). No patient in the early group had advanced degenerative change, compared to 9.2% of patients in the delayed group. There was no significant difference (Mann-Whitney U-test, p = 0.3) in the incidence of meniscal tears between the two groups. We conclude that revision reconstruction should be carried out within six months of primary graft failure, in order to minimise the risk of degenerative change

The role of arthroscopic meniscectomy in middle-aged patients has not previously been evaluated. This paper reports on 73 knees in 68 patients aged over 40, all of whom were shown arthroscopically to have meniscal tears and who were felt to be suitable candidates for meniscectomy. Many of these patients had typical traumatic meniscal tears, and if no degenerative joint changes were present at the time of meniscectomy, 95 per cent of them had good or excellent results an average of two and a half years later. In those instances where degenerative joint changes were present, removal of the offending segment of torn meniscus produced 80 per cent good or excellent results over the same period of time. These facts seem important now that arthroscopy permits such precise diagnosis of meniscal tears and of joint degeneration

The June 2013 Knee Roundup. 360 . looks at: knee arthroplasty in diabetic patients; whether TKR is a timebomb; the use of antidepressants for knee OA; trochleoplasty; articulated spacers; mental health and joint replacement; and the use of physiotherapy for meniscal tear

Aims

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between chondral injury and interval from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear to surgical reconstruction (ACLr).

The April 2023 Children’s orthopaedics Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: CT scan of the ipsilateral femoral neck in paediatric shaft fractures; Meniscal injuries in skeletally immature children with tibial eminence fractures: a systematic literature review; Post-maturity progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis curves of 40° to 50°; Prospective, randomized Ponseti treatment for clubfoot: orthopaedic surgeons versus physical therapists; FIFA 11+ Kids: challenges in implementing a prevention programme; The management of developmental dysplasia of the hip in children aged under three months: a consensus study from the British Society for Children's Orthopaedic Surgery; Early investigation and bracing in developmental dysplasia of the hip impacts maternal wellbeing and breastfeeding; Hip arthrodesis in children: a review of 26 cases with a mean of 20 years’ follow-up

Aims

The aim of this study was to report the patterns of symptoms and insufficiency fractures in patients with tumour-induced osteomalacia (TIO) to allow the early diagnosis of this rare condition.

Recent reports have suggested an increase in the number of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in children, although their true incidence is unknown. The prognosis of the ACL-deficient knee in young active individuals is poor because of secondary meniscal tears, persistent instability and early-onset osteoarthritis. The aim of surgical reconstruction is to provide stability while avoiding physeal injury. Techniques of reconstruction include transphyseal, extraphyseal or partial physeal sparing procedures. In this paper we review the management of ACL tears in skeletally immature patients. . Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2013;95-B:1562–9

We have treated 69 patients with 72 cystic lateral menisci by arthroscopic surgery. Meniscal tears were observed in all cases, and 69 of these had a horizontal cleavage component. Three types of tear were identified and may be progressive. Treatment was by arthroscopic resection of the meniscal tear, and decompression of the cyst through the substance of the meniscus. After a mean follow-up of 34 months the results were good or excellent in 64 knees (89%) and there were few complications. We recommend this technique as the treatment of choice for cysts of the lateral meniscus

A group of 40 patients with unstable knees due to a combination of a meniscal tear with a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament was studied to assess the effects of treatment by meniscectomy alone. The results were assessed both subjectively and objectively, but emphasis was placed on the symptoms rather than the physical signs of instability. Meniscectomy alone cured the symptoms of instability in 22 of the patients and a further eight required no further surgical treatment; bucket-handle tears were associated with a good result and posterior-horn tears with a poor result. The remaining 10 patients later underwent an additional procedure to reconstruct the ligament because of persisting symptoms. It was concluded that in patients with this combined lesion the torn meniscus should be dealt with first. In young patients with a posterior-horn tear it would be justifiable to perform a ligamentous reconstruction at the same time as the meniscectomy

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2023;105-B(11):1133–1134.

Economic evaluation provides a framework for assessing the costs and consequences of alternative programmes or interventions. One common vehicle for economic evaluations in the healthcare context is the decision-analytic model, which synthesizes information on parameter inputs (for example, probabilities or costs of clinical events or health states) from multiple sources and requires application of mathematical techniques, usually within a software program. A plethora of decision-analytic modelling-based economic evaluations of orthopaedic interventions have been published in recent years. This annotation outlines a number of issues that can help readers, reviewers, and decision-makers interpret evidence from decision-analytic modelling-based economic evaluations of orthopaedic interventions.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2023;105-B(1):17–20.

The February 2023 Knee Roundup³⁶⁰ looks at: Machine-learning models: are all complications predictable?; Positive cultures can be safely ignored in revision arthroplasty patients that do not meet the 2018 International Consensus Meeting Criteria; Spinal versus general anaesthesia in contemporary primary total knee arthroplasty; Preoperative pain and early arthritis are associated with poor outcomes in total knee arthroplasty; Risk factors for infection and revision surgery following patellar tendon and quadriceps tendon repairs; Supervised versus unsupervised rehabilitation following total knee arthroplasty; Kinematic alignment has similar outcomes to mechanical alignment: a systematic review and meta-analysis; Lifetime risk of revision after knee arthroplasty influenced by age, sex, and indication; Risk factors for knee osteoarthritis after traumatic knee injury.

Aims

This study aims to identify the top unanswered research priorities in the field of knee surgery using consensus-based methodology.

Aims

To identify unanswered questions about the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation and delivery of care of first-time soft-tissue knee injuries (ligament injuries, patella dislocations, meniscal injuries, and articular cartilage) in children (aged 12 years and older) and adults.

This study evaluated the results of a physeal-sparing technique of intra-articular anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in skeletally immature patients, with particular reference to growth disturbance. Between 1992 and 2007, 57 children with a mean age of 12.2 years (6.8 to 14.5) underwent ACL reconstruction using the same technique. At a mean of 5.5 years (2 to 14) after surgery, 56 patients underwent clinical and radiological evaluation. At that time, 49 patients (87.5%) had reached bony maturity and 53 (95%) achieved A or B according to the IKDC 2000 classification. Four patients had stopped participation in sports because of knee symptoms, and three patients (5.4%) had a subsequent recurrent ACL injury. There was no clinical or radiological evidence of growth disturbance after a mean growth in stature of 20.0 cm (3 to 38). This study demonstrates that ACL reconstruction sparing the physes in children is a safe technique protecting against meniscal tears and giving better results than reconstruction in adults, without causing significant growth disturbance

Aims

This study aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of meniscal cell lysate (MCL) in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) and osteoarthritis (OA).

Aims

To evaluate inducing osteoarthritis (OA) by surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) in mice with and without a stereomicroscope.

Delayed rather than early reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament is the current recommended treatment for injury to this ligament since it is thought to give a better functional outcome. We randomised 105 consecutive patients with injury associated with chondral lesions no more severe than grades 1 and 2 and/or meniscal tears which only required trimming, to early (< two weeks) or delayed (> four to six weeks) reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament using a quadrupled hamstring graft. All operations were performed by a single surgeon and a standard rehabilitation regime was followed in both groups. The outcomes were assessed using the Lysholm score, the Tegner score and measurement of the range of movement. Stability was assessed by clinical tests and measurements taken with the KT-1000 arthrometer, with all testing performed by a blinded uninvolved experienced observer. A total of six patients were lost to follow-up, with 48 patients assigned to the delayed group and 51 to the early group. None was a competitive athlete. The mean interval between injury and the surgery was seven days (2 to 14) in the early group and 32 days (29 to 42) in the delayed group. The mean follow-up was 32 months (26 to 36). The results did not show a statistically significant difference for the Lysholm score (p = 0.86), Tegner activity score (p = 0.913) or the range of movement (p = 1). Similarly, no distinction could be made for stability testing by clinical examination (p = 0.56) and measurements with the KT-1000 arthrometer (p = 0.93). Reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament gave a similar clinical and functional outcome whether performed early (< two weeks) or late at four to six weeks after injury

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.

The relationship between meniscal tearing and degenerative joint disease was studied by macroscopic examination of 115 knees at necropsy. The incidence of meniscal pathology was 57 per cent. There was no overall difference in the severity and distribution of tibiofemoral degeneration, whether the meniscus was torn or normal. We found little evidence that degenerative meniscal tears cause osteoarthritis or vice versa

Nine pedunculated benign synoviomata causing mechanical symptoms similar to those of a torn meniscus are described. The average age of the patients was 34.4 years. During the period of study, 2254 meniscal lesions causing mechanical symptoms were identified, giving an incidence of one benign synovioma for every 250 meniscal lesions. All the lesions were removed arthroscopically with relief of symptoms

Repair of a longitudinal peripheral meniscal tear permits salvage of this structure in a high percentage of cases. In previous reports an arthrotomy was used to accomplish this repair; in this paper an arthroscopic technique is presented. The potential risks are significant and include damage to the peroneal nerve and popliteal vascular structures, failure of meniscal healing and the usual complications of arthroscopy. The procedure is recommended only for the advanced arthroscopist who is advised first to establish clearly by cadaver dissections the anatomical relationships

In a series of 1160 arthroscopies we found 16 meniscal cysts; 12 involved the lateral joint line and two the medial, and two were intra-articular. In all but two cases, arthroscopy showed meniscal tears. We recommend arthroscopy of all cases to correct the meniscal lesion, and to evacuate the cyst into the joint by opening the joint capsule. This was successful in 12 cases, with no recurrence after an average follow-up of 18 months. Only two patients with no meniscal lesion on arthroscopy required an additional external incision for cyst removal

Aims

The aim of this retrospective study was to determine if there are differences in short-term clinical outcomes among four different types of matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT).

We studied arthroscopically the meniscal pathology in 100 patients with functional instability of the knee from isolated rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament at an average time of three years after injury. Meniscal tears were observed in 86 patients and multiple lesions of both menisci were common. An incomplete longitudinal cleavage, visible on both surfaces of the posterior horn, was seen in more than half the knees and seemed to indicate progressive meniscal deterioration. Clinical examination was unreliable and we suggest that arthroscopic assessment is necessary for accurate diagnosis and staging

It is well recognised that meniscal tears situated within the inner, avascular region do not heal. We investigated the potential effect of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in promoting regeneration of meniscal tissue in the inner, middle and outer zones of the meniscus. Sheep menisci were harvested and monolayer cell cultures prepared. Various concentrations of IGF-I were used in the presence or absence of 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). We measured the uptake of radioactive thymidine, sulphur, and proline to assess cell proliferation and formation of extracellular matrix (ECM). IGF-I, in the presence or absence of FCS, increased the formation of DNA and ECM in all meniscal zones. However, the response of the cells from the avascular zone was greater than that from the vascular zone. Our findings indicate that fibrochondrocytes cultured from avascular meniscal tissue have the ability to regenerate when exposed to anabolic cytokines such as IGF-I

A study was undertaken to determine whether a significantly different clinical outcome could be expected following nonoperative treatment of acute partial anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears from that of complete tears. A detailed follow-up of 107 patients with arthroscopically confirmed tears was obtained; 72 were complete tears and 35 partial. The overall results in those with partial tears were 23% excellent, 29% good, 17% fair, and 31% poor; with complete tears the results were 11% excellent, 20% good, 15% fair, and 54% poor. The patients with partial tears had a lower incidence of associated meniscal tears, needed fewer reconstructions and more of them returned to sport than those with complete tears

We assessed arthroscopically 22 young athletes with an isolated acute posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury. Four had significant damage to the articular cartilage of the medial femorotibial compartment and were advised not to resume sports. Three underwent PCL reconstruction because of a reparable meniscal tear or instability. The other 15 were treated conservatively and resumed sport. At an average follow-up of 51 months, one had developed arthritic symptoms due to newly-developed severe chondral damage to the medial femoral condyle, but none of the other 14 had developed arthritic symptoms and most remained athletically active. Severe chondral damage should be seen at an early arthroscopy. Knees with an isolated injury to the PCL with concomitant articular damage may be successfully managed by conservative treatment