Portal-site tract delayed closure in knee arthroscopy

OBJECTIVES: knee arthroscopy done usually through two punctures (anteromedial and anterolateral). We aimed to record the impact of delayed tract closure on the post-operative sub-acute and chronic anterior knee pain. DESIGN: Ultrasonography was used to evaluate the healing pattern of portal-site tracts. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 104 operated patients, followed up for one year. Puncture wounds were divided into two groups, (1) anteromedial group and (2) anterolateral group. Each group contains 104 portal-site tract. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: VAS was used to measure pain related to delayed tract healing and its association with the post-operative sub-acute and chronic knee pain. RESULTS: Anteromedial and anterolateral tracts average total healing time was (47 days, 28 days) respectively. The median VAS of anteromedial tract after 2 weeks, one month, three months, six months and one year was (8.2, 6.3, 4, 1.9, 0.6) respectively, and for the anterolateral tract was (7.4, 5.5, 2.8, 1.2, 0.2) respectively. A statistical significance was detected between the two groups at the first and third months with P values 0.042 and 0.0035 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Anteromedial tracts closed later than anterolateral tracts. Both portal-site tracts delayed closure is a potential for post-operative sub-acute and chronic anterior knee pain after arthroscopic surgery.