The sequelae of salvaged nondegenerative peripheral vertical medial meniscus tears with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Purpose: To determine the clinical sequelae of nondegenerative peripheral v ertical medial meniscus tears treated with abrasion and trephination alone (stable tears) or suture repair (unstable tears), TS pe of Study: Cohort fo llow-up. Methods: At the time of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, 548 patients had nondegenerative peripheral vertical medial meniscus tears that were either left unsutured or repaired, Of 548 menisci, 233 were stab le and were abraded and trephined (AT group), 139 were stable and left in s itu (Situ group), and 176 were unstable and were repaired with sutures (Sut ure group). An unstable tear was defined as a torn meniscus that could be d isplaced into the intercondylar notch with a probe. Patients who had no med ial or lateral meniscal tears at the time of ACL reconstruction served as a control population (No Tear group, n = 536). Subjective follow-up was obta ined with a modified Noyes questionnaire. Results: Objective follow-up was obtained at a mean of 4.8 +/- 1.7 years postoperatively. Subjective follow- up was obtained at a mean of 7.3 +/- 3.4 years postoperatively. At a mean o f 3.7 years (range, I months to 10.7 years) after the reconstruction. a sub sequent arthroscopy was required for 14 patients (6.0%) in the AT group, 15 patients (10.8%) in the Situ group, 24 patients (13.6%) in the Suture grou p, and 15 patients (2.9%) in the No Tear group; these numbers were not stat istically significant. The mean total subjective score was not statisticall y significantly different between groups. Conclusions: Repaired unstable pe ripheral vertical medial meniscus tears have a failure rate of 13.6%, most retears occurring more than 2 years after repair. Of stable peripheral vert ical medial meniscus tears treated with abrasion and trephination, most (94 %) remain asymptomatic without stabilization.