Clinical Evaluation of Arthroscopic-assisted Allograft Meniscal Transplantation

Abstract

Introduction: A meniscal deficient knee is at risk of early degenerative osteoarthritis. Allograft meniscal transplantation has been used to treat the meniscus deficiency to alleviate pain symptoms and to delay progression to arthritis. This case series aims to assess the postoperative outcomes of patients who have undergone meniscal allograft transplantation in our hospital. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective clinical review of prospectively collected data of our Meniscal Transplantation Programme from 2004 to 2007. Twelve meniscal allografts were implanted in 12 males with symptomatic knees, using arthroscopically assisted techniques. Preoperative and postoperative assessments were conducted using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Tegner Activity Level Scale, Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale, and 2000 International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scoring systems. Results: The mean age was 26.7 years with a mean follow-up of 17 months (range, 5 to 37). The VAS score for pain improved from 5.5 (3- 10) to 1.4 (0-2) [P<0.05], Tegner from 3 (2-5) to 5.9 (3-9) [P <0.05], Lysholm from 62.5 (27-88) to 88.6 (70-100) [P <0.05], IKDC Subjective Score from 50 (24-79) to 79.5 (56-95) [P <0.05]. Overall IKDC Knee Examination Grades revealed 10 nearly normal and 2 abnormal scores. Conclusions: This is the first series of allograft meniscal transplantation from Southeast Asia. Patient outcome evaluation via VAS, Tegner Activity Level Scale, Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale and 2000 IKDC Knee Evaluation Form showed improvement in symptoms and knee function after implantation. Key words: Meniscus allograft, Outcome, Transplantation

Lateral meniscus allograft transplantation using a single-incision technique

“…With regard to the duration of surgery, we can reduce the operation time with accumulating surgical experiences. While Chang et al [6] reported that the mean duration of their conventional arthroscopic-assisted MAT was 179 ± 35 min, our result was 144 ± 25.7 min. In addition, we could expect better cosmetic results using this technique.…”

Lyophilised medial meniscus transplantations in ACL-deficient knees: a 19-year follow-up

“…Indications for meniscal transplantation include patient age of 40 years or less and a totally absent meniscus [4, 10, 13, 16, 20, 26]. Patients with a totally absent meniscus present with localised pain in the affected area during daily activities and sports and have Outerbridge grade I or II articular changes but normal alignment [20].…”