KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS AFTER MENISCECTOMY - PREVALENCE OF RADIOGRAPHIC CHANGES AFTER 21 YEARS, COMPARED WITH MATCHED CONTROLS

Objective. To study the long-term outcome of surgical removal of a men iscus in the knee with regard to radiographic signs of osteoarthritis (OA). Methods. Of the 123 patients who underwent an open meniscectomy due to an isolated meniscus tear in 1973 at Lund University Hospital, 107 were followed up 21 Sears later by clinical examination and by rev iew of knee radiographs obtained with weight bearing, Seventy-nine of the 107 patients were men, and the mean age of the total study group a t examination was 55 pears (range 35-77), Sixty-eight sex-and age-matc hed individuals with healthy knees served as controls,Results, Mild ra diographic changes were found in 76 (71%) of the knees, while more adv anced changes, comparable with a Kellgren-Lawrence grade of 2 or highe r, were seen in 51 (48%). The corresponding prevalence values in the c ontrol group were 12 (18%) and 5 (7%), respectively. The relative risk for the presence of the more advanced radiographic changes representi ng definite radiographic tibiofemoral OA was 14.0 (95% confidence inte rval 3.5-121.2), using age-and sea-matched pairs for comparison. No co rrelation with sex, localization to compartment, type of meniscus tear , or work load was found, Knee symptoms were reported twice as often i n the study group as in the controls, Conclusion. Surgical removal of a meniscus following knee injury represents a significant risk factor for radiographic tibiofemoral OA, with a relative risk of 14.0 after 2 1 years.