Patient’s subjective knee function 3-5 years following partial meniscectomy or meniscus repair compared to a normal population: a retrospective cohort study

PURPOSE: Evaluate patient-reported knee function after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) and meniscus suture repair in two different age cohorts compared with a normal population. METHOD: Arthroscopic meniscus surgery was performed on 421 patients at Skåne University Hospital from 2010 to 2014, with a mean (SD) follow-up of 4.2 (1.4) years. Patients and controls were divided into two age cohorts; 18–34 years (younger) and 35–54 years (middle-aged) as well as according to surgery performed; either solely meniscus surgery or with concurrent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). The outcome is measured with the five subscales of the Knee and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). RESULTS: No significant difference in outcome after all studied types of meniscus surgeries between younger-aged and middle-aged patients. Younger patients with APM or meniscus suture repair, with or without, ACLR score lower than the normal population in all subscales of KOOS (p<0.001), except in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) for meniscus suture patients. Middle-aged patients with APM score lower in all subscales than the normal population (p≤0.009). Those with meniscus suture repair score lower than the normal population only for the subscales Sport/Rec and quality of life (p<0.001). Both younger-aged and middle-aged patients achieve better KOOS values after meniscus suture repair and ACLR than after all other combinations of surgery. CONCLUSION: Patients with meniscus injuries do not reach the same KOOS score as the normal population, irrespective of age or type of meniscus surgery performed. However, combined with ACLR in younger-aged and middle-aged patients, meniscus suture gives a better subjective outcome than isolated meniscus surgery.