Short-term clinical outcomes of 42 cases of arthroscopic meniscectomy for discoid lateral meniscus tears

Discoid lateral meniscus of the knee causes a high morbidity in China. Since the traditional treatment to open the capsule and resect the meniscus often results in arthritis, it is now believed that a discoid lateral meniscus should be treated with arthroscopy to preserve part of the meniscus. The current study aimed to investigate the short-term clinical outcomes of arthroscopic meniscectomy for the treatment of discoid lateral meniscus tears. In the present study, we diagnosed and treated 42 patients (47 knees) with discoid lateral meniscus tears using arthroscopy between February, 2007 and December, 2010. Thirty-seven knees received partial resection of the discoid meniscus, 8 received hypo-complete resection and 2 received complete resection. Thirty-nine of the patients were followed up for a mean of 21 months (ranging from 9 to 53 months). The Lysholm scoring system was used to assess the knee function prior to surgery and during the follow-up. The results were analyzed using a Student's t-test with SPSS 12.0. Our study showed that patients with treated knees returned to normal activities within 4-6 weeks, and knee functions were more improved at 9 months after operation than 3 months, as measured by the Lysholm score (P<0.05). Arthroscopic meniscectomy is an effective treatment for discoid menisci resulting in minimal invasion, quick recovery and early functional exercise. The use of arthroscopy during surgery aids to preserve the meniscus and to reduce stress, therefore, having a beneficial effect on short-term clinical outcomes.