Today’s article “Return-to-Sport Rate and Activity Level Are High Following Arthroscopic All-Inside Meniscal Repair With and Without Concomitant Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A systematic Review” is from Totlis et al.
The authors used standardized search techniques to find articles reporting return to sport outcomes for all inside meniscus repairs with and without an ACL reconstruction. There are multiple techniques for meniscus repair including all inside, outside in, inside out and hybrid techniques. The all inside techniques use various devices to deliver an implant that includes suture to repair the meniscus.
Nineteen articles were included in the review. The overall return to sport was high at ~90% between the studies. Time to return to sport varied from 3-6 months for an isolated meniscus repair vs 5-10 months for meniscus repair with ACL reconstruction.
Drawbacks of meniscus repair compared to menisectomy include the longer rehab and possible high reoperation rate. Despite this I will often recommend meniscus repair for repairable meniscus tears due to excellent results from studies such as these with high patient reported outcome measures, high return to sport, and chondroprotective effect of the meniscus.
If you have a meniscus tear and would like to know what option is best for you click the book appointment button to schedule online.
