Off-Season Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Players Has a Longer Return to Sport Time than In-Season Surgery

PURPOSE: To report the outcomes of routine arthroscopic meniscectomy in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football players. METHODS: NCAA athletes who underwent arthroscopic meniscectomy over 5 years were included. Players who had incomplete data, previous knee surgery, ligamentous injury, and/or microfractures were excluded. Data collected were player position, timing of surgery, procedures performed, return to play (RTP) rate and time, and postoperative performance. Continuous variables were analyzed with Student t-tests or a one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: Thirty-six athletes (38 knees) who underwent arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (31 lateral, 7 medial) were included. The mean RTP time was 71 ± 39 days. The mean RTP time in athletes who underwent in-season surgery) was significantly shorter than the RTP in athletes who had off-season surgery (58 ± 41 days vs 85 ± 33 days, P < .05). The mean RTP in 29 athletes (31 knees) with lateral meniscectomy was similar to the 7 athletes (7 knees) who had medial meniscectomy (70 ± 36 vs 77 ± 56, P = .6803). The mean RTP time was similar between football players who underwent isolated lateral meniscectomy and those who had lateral meniscectomy with chondroplasty (61 ± 36 days vs 75±41 days, P = .32). Athletes played an average of 7.7 ± 4.9 games the season they returned; position category and anatomical compartment of the knee lesion had no bearing on number of games played (P = .1864 and P = .425). CONCLUSIONS: NCAA Division 1 football players who underwent arthroscopic partial meniscectomy RTP at approximately 2.5 months’ postoperatively. Athletes who underwent off-season surgery had longer RTP time compared with those who underwent in-season surgery. RTP time and performance after surgery did not differ based on player position, anatomical location of the lesions, or chondroplasty at the time of meniscectomy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.