Clinical outcome of meniscus repair for isolated meniscus tear in athletes

Objective To examine the clinical and functional outcomes for a series of patients who underwent meniscal repair for isolated meniscal tears focusing the study population on athletes. Methods This study represents a case series of 46 athletes who underwent repair of isolated meniscal lesions of the knee from 2010 to 2015. Cases of discoid meniscal lesions and combined ligament injuries were excluded. The mean age of the patients was 22.9 years ranging from 12 to 50 years. Arthroscopic inside-out repair was primarily a procedure of option. For repair of tears with degeneration and inferior vascularity, autogenous fibrin clot was implanted to the repair site for healing enhancement. The mean follow-up period of all patients was 19.8 ± 6.8 months (range; 12 months-33 months). Results In total, 37 of 46 patients (80%) could go back to their original sports activities. During the follow-up period, re-tear was encountered in 4 of 46 knees (8.7%). No significant differences in clinical/functional outcomes and re-tear rate were detected between the medial and lateral meniscal repairs. Conclusion In our expanded repair indication for isolated meniscus repair for athletes, the rate of satisfactory return to sports was 91.3% in total (88.9% for the medial meniscus group; 92.9% for the lateral meniscus group). During the follow-up period ranging from 12 to 33 months (mean, 19.8 months), re-tear of the repaired site was encountered in 4 of the 46 knees (8.7%).