Technical pitfalls of meniscal surgery

Since the 1970s, arthroscopic surgery has become commonplace. Reporting on 8500 procedures, one controlled, multicenter study estimated that a surgeon at a specialty center may perform more than 400 arthroscopic procedures pe r year, 85% of which involve the knee. Further, with an overall complicatio n rate of 1.8%, meniscal repair or meniscectomy accounted for more than 7% of all complications. As the number and frequency of arthroscopic procedure s increase and equipment and techniques for arthroscopic surgery evolve, th e complication rate is likely to grow. The aim of this article is to descri be pitfalls that can occur during arthroscopic or open meniscal surgery, to provide the surgeon with the means to recognize and prevent these pitfalls , and to render appropriate treatment after their occurrence.