Evaluation of clinical results according to the type of meniscus tears in patients undergoing meniscus repair

Introduction: In knee injuries, one of the most frequently affected structures is meniscus. Today, the most commonly used treatment options to remove or restore the damaged tissue in a ruptured meniscus are menisectomy or meniscus repair, respectively. Various repair options have emerged in meniscus repair, with the development of arthroscopy. Many factors such as meniscus rupture location, type, patient age have affected the results of meniscus repair. Purpose: In our study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical results of the patients, who applied for repair due to meniscus injuries, according to the demographic information, ruptured location, type, number of sutures with Lysholm and VAS scores. Materials and Methods: In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the files of 76 patients who applied to the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology of Gaziantep University Medical Faculty Hospital with the complaint of knee joints between 2015 and 2019 and whom we diagnosed with meniscus tear and operated arthroscopically. Lysholm function scoring and VAS evaluation in the preoperative and 1st postoperative control wereused for clinical evaluation of the patients. Findings: 57 of the patients included in the study were male and 19 were female. 37 patients had a meniscus tear in the right knee and 39 in the left knee. 20 patients were operated for lateral meniscus tear, 56 for medial meniscus tear, 10 for anterior horn tear and 66 for posterior horn tear. According to the shape of the tear, 29 patients had horizontal, 14 had longitudinal, 9 had radial, 12 had bucket handle, 4 had root tear, and 8 had complex tears. The mean age of the patients was 33.22 ± 10.30. The mean number of sutures used was 2.74 ± 1.30. While the mean pre op Lysholm value of the patients was 52.42 ± 16.09, the mean Lysholm value in the 1st year post op control was 86.51 ± 14.24. While the mean pre op VAS value of the patients was 6.91 ± 1.4, the mean VAS value in the 1st year post op control was 1.95 ± 2.05. It was determined that age, gender, meniscus location, number of sutures and tear shape had no effect on the percentage of change in post op Lysholm and VAS values in patients undergoing meniscus repair. Conclusion: It was concluded that meniscus has a very important place in knee function and should be protected, that arthroscopic repair is a treatment method providing superb clinical results in meniscus tears and that gender, meniscus location, number of sutures and tear shape, especially in older age, do not affect the clinical results.