AMR Sign - An Arthroscopic S-shaped Fold Signifying Adequate Medial Meniscus Repair.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Sports Medicine
• Arthroscopy

Background:

• Medial meniscus repair is increasingly preferred over meniscectomy.
• An objective indicator for successful meniscus repair is currently lacking.
• This gap poses challenges in assessing repair adequacy and predicting outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel arthroscopic sign, the Adequacy of Medial meniscus Repair (AMR) sign.
• To evaluate the AMR sign as an objective endpoint for arthroscopic medial meniscus repair.
• To determine if the AMR sign predicts long-term clinical, functional, and radiological outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A multicentric, prospective study of 804 patients with isolated medial meniscus tears.
• Arthroscopic all-inside repair technique was employed.
• Patients were grouped based on the presence, loss, or absence of the S-shaped AMR sign post-repair.

Main Results:

• All patients showed significant improvement post-surgery.
• The group with a maintained AMR sign demonstrated significantly better functional outcomes.
• This group also exhibited lower failure rates compared to other groups.

Conclusions:

• The AMR sign is an S-shaped fold at the inner, free edge of the medial meniscus after adequate arthroscopic repair.
• It serves as an objective indicator of regained collagen architecture integrity.
• The AMR sign reliably predicts excellent long-term functional, clinical, and radiological outcomes and reduced failure rates.