Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery
Original ArticleAnterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction After 10 to 15 Years: Association Between Meniscectomy and Osteoarthrosis
Section snippets
Methods
From July 1986 through March 1991, 126 consecutive patients underwent arthroscopic-assisted ACL reconstruction with patellar tendon autograft. Excluded from this retrospective study were patients with bilateral ACL reconstruction (n = 12), previous knee surgery (n = 18), degenerative changes and grade III or IV chondromalacia found radiographically or at the time of surgery (n = 11), and other ligament injuries associated with the ACL injury (posterior cruciate ligament [n = 1] and
Results
There were 47 male patients and 15 female patients. The mean age at surgery was 27 years (range, 15 to 46 years); most patients (n = 59) were aged less than 40 years at the time of surgery. One patient was injured as the result of a fall; all others were injured during sporting activities. Patients were operated on at a mean of 16 months after the initial injury (range, 2 weeks to 8 years). During the initial surgery, meniscal lesions were found in 41 knees: 22 had isolated medial meniscus
Discussion
In this study the knees of patients who underwent arthroscopic-assisted ACL reconstruction with a patellar tendon autograft with concurrent medial or lateral meniscectomy for meniscal lesions presented with arthrosis of the respective compartments at 10 to 15 years of follow-up. Meniscectomy was also associated with poorer results on objective tests of knee function, even when the knee joint was stable. The strength of this study lies in the length of the postoperative follow-up, the patient
Conclusions
Patients who underwent arthroscopic-assisted ACL reconstruction with patellar tendon graft who had concurrent medial or lateral meniscectomies (or both) presented with arthrosis in the respective compartments at 10 to 15 years of follow-up. Meniscectomy was the determining factor for arthrosis. Meniscectomy was also associated with poorer results on objective tests of knee function, even when the knee joint was stable.
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The authors report no conflict of interest.