Meniscal injuries are one of the most common injuries evaluated and treated by orthopaedic surgeons. They are commonly found in the young, active population, and orthopaedic surgeons often try to repair them when possible. Although many meniscal injuries result in a partial meniscectomy, meniscal repairs are employed in a certain tear pattern to
attempt to restore the natural function of the meniscus and possibly prevent early degeneration of the affected compartment.
While inside-out repair remains the standard technique, recent advances in all-inside meniscal repair devices have led to a growth in their popularity. In a systematic review of 481 studies on the success of meniscus repairs, comparing modern all-inside devices with inside-out repair, no differences were seen in failure rates, functional outcome scores, or complication rates.
The clinical failure rates with inside-out and all-inside failure rates of 11% and 10%, respectively, were lower than the failure rates seen in previous studies. Whether this represents a true improvement in outcomes over time is unclear, but this could be the result of improved implant design and progress along our collective learning curve.
Source: American Journal of Sports Medicine, published online March 17, 2016
