- Meniscal Anatomy and Physiology:
- medial meniscus
- bucket handle meniscus tear:
- posterior horn tears of medial meniscus:
-
lateral meniscus
-
discoid meniscus
-
indications for repair:
- any peripheral nondegenerative longitudinal tears < 3
cm;
- if tear is w/in 3 mm of the periphery, it is considered vascular;
- area 3-5 mm from periphery is grey zone, & > 5 mm from periphery is considered avascular; (see
vascularity of the meniscus)
- unstable tears or tears within vascular zone that are > 7 mm are repairable;
- mobile, single, vertical, longitudinal tear of the meniscus limited to vascular outer one-third of the meniscal substance;
-
relative contra-indications:
- tears greater than 3 cm do not seem to heal, following surgery;
- transverse tears, even in the periphery, do not seem to heal;
- do not repair flap tears,
radial tears, cleavage tears, or vertical tears with secondary lesions that extend into avascular inner 2/3 of meniscus,
except in young teen agers;
- ligamentous instability is a relative contraindication to repair;
- see:
management of meniscal tears in the ACL deficient knee
- w/ ACL insufficiency, the rate or re-tearing approaches 40%, especially in younger acitve individuals, and therefore
ACL reconstruction
should be performed at the same surgery;
- ref:
Arthroscopic meniscal repair using an exogenous fibrin clot.
Surgical techniques for arthroscopic meniscal repair. PM O'Meara. Orthop Rev. Vol 22. 1993. p 781-790.
- Technique:
- equipement: (see
Arthrex,
Mitek,
Linvatec,
Smith-Nephew)
- single or double barrel cannula system;
- table spoon or small spade retractor;
- long keith needles w/ either 2-0 or O absorable or non absorbable;
-
medial repair technique:
-
lateral repair technique:
- meniscal debridement:
-
outside to in - arthroscopic technique:
- main advantage is that there is a low risk of neurovascular injury, since needles are passed thru precise thru the capsule;
- main disadvantage is that suture placement thru the meniscus may not be precise;
-
inside to out - arthroscopic technique:
- fibrin clot:
- it was originally recommended that an exogenous blood clot be placed into the meniscal repair site, but this is probably not necessary;
- LL Johnson MD, 1991, has demonstrated that during and following arthroscopic surgery, blood clot generated during the case attaches
to the surgically incised surfaces (including debrided edges of the meniscal tear);
- w/ this evidence, it may not be necessary to apply and exogenous clot, since the majority of blood clot is formed from synovial bleeding;
- references:
- Characteristics of the Immediate Postoperative Blood Clot Formation in the Knee Joint. LL Johnson MD Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery. Vol 7(1), 1991. p 14-23.
-
Meniscal repair using an exogenous fibrin clot. An experimental study in dogs
-
Arthroscopic meniscal repair using an exogenous fibrin clot.
-
Preparation of an exogenous fibrin clot.
- suture spacing:
- enough sutures are placed to avoid gaps of more than 3-5 mm;
- sutures can be placed in horizontal, oblique, or verticle direction;
- verticle suture placement may be stronger due to the circumferential orientation of the collagen bundles (see
microscopic anatomy);
- horizontal sutures are almost as strong as verticle sutures, but are more apt to cause eversion of the opposite meniscal surface;
- eversion is avoided by placing sutures on both the superior and inferior mensical surface;
- always place the anterior suture first, so that the view of the posterior suture is not obstructed;
- concomitant ACL reconstruction:
- when performing an meniscal repair along with ACL reconstruction, meniscal repair is done first without tourniquet
followed by ACL reconstruction w/ tourniquet inflated;
- references:
-
Failure strengths of different meniscal suturing techniques.
-
Meniscus suture techniques: a comparative biomechanical cadaver study.
-
The effect of suture type on meniscus repair. A clinical analysis.
- Post Op Rehab:
- Wt bearing as tolerated in brace locked in extension;
- ROM is allowed when not wt bearing;
- atheletics are permited in 4-6 months;
- references:
-
Accelerated rehabilitation for meniscus repairs.
-
Meniscus repair rehabilitation with concurrent anterior cruciate reconstruction.
Meniscal repair. Description of a surgical technique.
Long-term results of open meniscal repair.
DeHaven K, Black K, Griffiths H: Open meniscus repair. Am J Sports Med
1989;17:788-795.
Combined posterior incision and arthroscopic intra-articular repair of the meniscus. An examination of factors affecting healing.
Jakob RP, Staubli HU, Zuber K, et al: The arthroscopic meniscal repair:
Techniques and clinical experience. Am J Sports Med 1988;16(2):137-142.
Arthroscopic meniscus repair: a safe approach to the posterior horns.
MeWebber RJ, York L, Vander Schilden JL, et al: An organ culture model for assaying wound repair of the fibrocartilaginous knee joint meniscus. Am
J Sports Med 1989;17:393.
DeHaven K, Black K, Griffiths H: Open meniscus repair, technique and 2 to 9 year results. Am J Sports Med 1989;17:788-795.
Arthroscopic meniscal repair using an exogenous fibrin clot.
Meniscal repair using an exogenous fibrin clot. An experimental study in dogs.
Failure strengths of different meniscal suturing techniques.
Second look arthroscopy after meniscal repair. Factors affecting the healing rate.
Complications in arthroscopy: The knee and other joints.
NC Small. Arthroscopy. vol 2. 1986. p 253.
Long term results of arthroscopic meniscal repair: an analysis of isolated tears.
S. Eggli et al. Am J. Sports Med. Vol 23. p 715-720. 1995.
The incidence of healing in arthroscopic meniscal repairs in ACL reconstructed knees versus stable knees.
WD and JM Vittori. Am. J. Sports Med. Vol 20. p 176. 1992.
The effect of meniscus compression on the biomechanical properties of repaired meniscal lesions. Winner of the AGA-DonJoy Award 2003
Anatomic Localization of the Popliteal Artery at the Level of the Knee Joint: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.
