Abstract
Arthroscopic partial menisectomies were carried out on the 20 knee joints of the 20 patients (4 males, 14 females) aged over 40 (range 40 to 71, mean 52.3) with degenerative arthritis. Those knee joints had been clinically diagnosed to have torn menisci.
The length of the follow up ranged from 6 to 26 months (mean 14.3). Average JOA knee scores were 91.7, compared to 42.5 preoperatively with much improvement of functional capabilities. Two knees (10%) required additional surgical interventions due to reccurent pain with hydroarthrosis namely high tibial osteotomy (HTO) and distal femoral varus osteotomy.
The degree of degeneration in roentgenological and arthroscopic findings had negative correlation to postoperative JOA score. The history of trauma, configuration of the torn menisci and preoperative femorotibial angle were not associated with postoperative clinical results.
These results suggest that arthroscopic menisectomy may be an effective procedure for the middle aged patients with moderate degenerative arthritis, while a few of them need additional surgical intervention such as HTO later.
