Arthroscopic Medial Meniscus Posterior Root Repair: Techniques and Current Issues

Jae-Hyuk Yang; Jung-Ro Yoon

doi:10.4055/jkoa.2015.50.5.365

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Yang and Yoon: Arthroscopic Medial Meniscus Posterior Root Repair: Techniques and Current Issues

Symposium

Medial Meniscus Posterior Root Tear

Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association 2015; 50(5): 365-371.

Published online: 23 October 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4055/jkoa.2015.50.5.365

Arthroscopic Medial Meniscus Posterior Root Repair: Techniques and Current Issues

Jae-Hyuk Yang, M.D., Ph.D., Jung-Ro Yoon, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, VHS Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.

2015Correspondence to: Jung-Ro Yoon, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, VHS Medical Center, 53 Jinhwangdo-ro 61-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul 05368, Korea. TEL: +82-2-2225-1609, FAX: +82-2-2225-1910, momyjr@naver.com

Received 30 June 2015 Revised 9 August 2015 Accepted 10 August 2015

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Posterior root tears of the medial meniscus are radial tears, usually found in patients older than 50 years with degenerative articular cartilage. Partial menisectomy has been the conventional treatment for this condition. However, growing dissatisfaction with partial menisectomy for medial meniscus root tears has led to an increasing interest in meniscal repair. One method for medial meniscus root repairs involves suturing around the region of the tear where the sutures are pulled-out and fixed around the tibia. In another approach, a suture anchor was used for fixation of the medial meniscus root tear. Both methods improved functional outcome scores at least during a short-term follow-up period. However, complete healing of the repaired root seemed to be less predictable. Strict patient selection, good surgical skills and proper postoperative rehabilitation are the key factors for successful repairs of medial meniscus root tears.

Keywords: knee, medial meniscus, root tear, arthroscopic repair

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Method of arthroscopic pull-out repair technique in a right knee. (A, B) Using a suture hook, one PDS (Ethibond, Somerville, NJ, USA) and one Maxon suture were penetrated through the medial meniscus posterior horn. (C) Reduction after tying of sutures. (D) Schematic illustration of pull-out suture repair with cortical screw fixation.

Figure 2

Schematic illustrations of suture anchor repair techniques for medial meniscus posterior root tears. A suture anchor was located through the posteromedial portal (PM) (A); and knots were pushed down with a knot pusher under adequate reduction and tension (B).

Table 1

Postoperative Rehabilitation after Medial Meniscus Root Repair

ROM, range of motion.

Table 2

Overview of Results of Medial Meniscus Posterior Root Tear Repair

^*Values are presented as number/total number (%). PR, pull-out repair; SA, suture anchor; NA, not applicable.

Notes

^{CONFLICTS OF INTEREST} The authors have nothing to disclose.

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