Arthroscopic all-inside meniscal repair- a prospective follow up study of 2 years

Aim: The meniscus is the key in normal knee function. Recently, meniscal repair has become an common treatment for meniscal tears. Arthroscopic meniscal repair has become popular because of shorter duration of the surgery, the smaller incision. Arthroscopic view gives better accessibility to the torn portion, which is particularly difficult during open Surgery. Inside-out, outside-in, and all-inside are arthroscopic techniques are widely used. Arthroscopy by all inside meniscal repair has the lowest neurovascular injury rate. In this study we have evaluated clinical outcomes of arthroscopic all inside menisceal repair technique with a minimum follow up of 2 years.
Methods: This study prospectively evaluated 48 patients consecutively treated by arthroscopic meniscal repair using the Fast Fix repair system. Average age of patients at the time of surgery was 24.The inclusion criteria for this study were: vertical full thickness tear more than 10 mm in length; meniscal tear at the menisco-capsular junction, no previous meniscus surgery; and no signs of arthritis during arthroscopy, absence of complex menisceal tear. Associated Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears were reconstructed using a hamstring auto graft or BTB graft at the time of the meniscal repair. Follow-up examinations consisted of IKDC score, Lysholm knee score, Tegner activity score.
Results: After an minimum of 2 years follow-up, no symptoms of meniscal tears were found in 44/48 of the cases. For patients with isolated meniscal repair or concurrent ACL reconstruction, IKDC score, Lysholm and Tegner activity scores had improved significantly postoperatively. One patient in our series had retear for which partial medial meniscectomy was done No neurovascular or other major complications occured with the use of this system.
Conclusions: Arthroscopic all-inside repair using the all inside device appears to be a safe and effective surgery with promising results and allows to save the meniscus restoring the normal anatomy .