DOES PARTIAL MENISCECTOMY AFFECT ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION RESULTS?

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Sports Medicine
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears often occur with meniscal injuries, necessitating surgical intervention.
• The optimal surgical strategy for concomitant ACL tears and meniscal injuries remains a subject of ongoing research.
• Patellar tendon grafts are commonly used for ACL reconstruction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare clinical functional outcomes and osteoarthritis (OA) progression 10 years after primary ACL reconstruction with a patellar tendon graft.
• To evaluate the impact of concomitant partial meniscectomy versus isolated ACL reconstruction on long-term joint health.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cross-sectional study involving 37 patients who underwent ACL reconstruction with a patellar tendon graft.
• Patients were divided into two groups: those with meniscal injury (n=22) who had partial meniscectomy and those without meniscal injury (n=15) who had isolated ACL reconstruction.
• Outcome measures included the SF-36 questionnaire, range of motion, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and Ahlbäck Radiographic Classification.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups regarding health-related quality of life.
• Arc of motion, overall functional condition, and the severity/grade of knee osteoarthritis showed no significant variations between patients who underwent partial meniscectomy and those who did not.
• Statistical analysis yielded p > 0.05 for all measured outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Partial meniscectomy performed concurrently with primary ACL reconstruction using a patellar tendon graft does not lead to significant differences in clinical functional criteria after 10 years.
• The severity of knee osteoarthritis also showed no significant difference between the groups at the 10-year follow-up.
• These findings suggest that concomitant partial meniscectomy is a safe adjunct to ACL reconstruction in terms of long-term functional outcomes and OA progression.