PURPOSE The purpose of this review was to evaluate the role of biological augmentation and tissue engineering strategies in meniscus surgery. Although clinical (human), preclinical (animal), and in vitro tissue engineering studies are included here, we have placed additional focus on addressing preclinical and clinical studies reported during the 5-year period used in this review in a systemati...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to consider the use of a meniscal repair in patients in order to close the horizontal cleavage extending up to the avascular zone. The hypothesis was to examine the clinical and arthroscopic outcomes following meniscal repair of degenerative horizontal cleavage tears with new-generation all-inside suture materials using the overlock method. METHODS We retrospective...

Meniscus integrity is the key for joint health of the knee. Therefore, the main goal of every meniscus treatment should be the maintenance of as much meniscus tissue as possible.Repair of meniscus tears can be achieved by meniscus suture. However, in a recently published meta-analysis, the long-term outcome of meniscus repair showed a mean failure rate of 24%.In a preclinical trial, locally app...

BACKGROUND The objective of rehabilitation following meniscal repair is to promote healing by limiting stresses on repairs, while simultaneously preserving muscle strength and joint motion. Both protective protocols limiting weight bearing and accelerated which do not, have shown clinical success. This study assesses the effects of physiologic gait loading on the kinematic behavior of a repaire...

OBJECTIVE To review basic meniscal anatomy, histology, and biomechanical principles as they apply to surgery and rehabilitation. DATA SOURCES We searched MEDLINE and CINAHL for the years 1960-1999 using the terms meniscus,surgery,rehabilitation,meniscal repair, and arthroscopy. DATA SYNTHESIS Injuries to a healthy meniscus are usually produced by a compressive force coupled with transverse-...

BACKGROUND The menisci are integral to normal knee function. The purpose of this study was to measure the contact pressures transmitted to the medial tibial plateau under physiological loads as a function of the percentage of the meniscus involved by the radial tear or repair. Our hypotheses were that (1) there is a threshold size of radial tears above which contact mechanics are adversely affe...

Increasing emphasis on the comprehensive reconstruction of the knee and on restoration of knee function after injury has heightened the interest in meniscus preservation. The approach to meniscal tears in the active individual emphasizes tissue repair over resection because meniscal tissue preservation has several potential advantages that improve the biomechanics and natural history of knee fu...

Meniscal damage is a common problem that accelerates the onset of knee osteoarthritis. Stem cell-based tissue engineering treatment approaches have shown promise in preserving meniscal tissue and restoring meniscal function. The purpose of our study was to identify meniscus-derived stem/progenitor cells (MSPCs) from mouse, a model system that allows for in vivo analysis of the mechanisms underl...