Osteonecrosis of the knee after arthroscopic surgery: diagnosis with MR imaging

Spontaneous osteonecrosis about the knee typically is a disease of the elderly characterized by an acute onset of pain. The exact cause of this condition has long been debated, although a causative relationship between meniscal tears and spontaneous osteonecrosis about the knee has been postulated. Seven patients with knee pain, meniscal tears, and chondromalacia without initial evidence of osteonecrosis at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging underwent arthroscopic surgery with meniscal recontouring or repair and cartilage shaving. These patients returned within 2-14 months with recurrent pain in the treated knee. MR imaging then demonstrated abnormalities consistent with osteonecrosis. Osteonecrosis of the femoral condyle or tibial plateau may be a late sequela of meniscal injury in association with chondromalacia and arthroscopic surgery. This diagnosis should be suspected in patients with recurrent knee pain after arthroscopic repair of meniscal tears. The precise relationship of this pattern of osteonecrosis to that previously described as spontaneous requires further investigation.