Meniscal allograft transplantation in isolated and combined surgery

The purpose of this study was to report the initial results of meniscus allograft transplantation after a 2-year follow-up period with second-look arthroscopy of 18 patients.

Seven medial and 11 lateral meniscus allografts were evaluated with a median follow-up of 24.9 months (range, 18-41 months). The clinical outcome and failure rate were evaluated by use of second-look arthroscopy in all patients, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis in 17 patients, and standardized outcome scores assessment, including Lysholm score, Knee Injury, and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), visual analog scale (VAS) on pain and satisfaction and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) objective ratings in all patients. Patients were grouped into medial and lateral subgroups as well as those with isolated or combined procedures.

For the second-look arthroscopic findings, 6 meniscus transplants (33%) had normal characteristics, 10 (56%) had altered characteristics, and 2 (11%) failed. On MRI, two grafts had grade III signals and 11 showed partially extruded. Patients demonstrated statistically significant improvements in standardized outcome scores and VAS pain scales. Overall, 67% of the patients reported that they were completely or mostly satisfied with the procedure. There were no significant differences in the medial and lateral subgroups and no significant differences were noted in the isolated and combined subgroups.

Arthroscopic meniscus transplantation can achieve satisfying subjective and objective clinical outcomes, with a failure rate of 11% after 1-3 years of follow-up, as documented by second-look arthroscopy.