Symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus: a clinical and arthroscopic study in a Chinese population

Abstract

BackgroundDiscoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is relatively common in East Asia..Symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus (SDLM) is an important indication for knee arthroscopic surgery. However, studies investigating SDLM are rare. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and intra-articular variants of SDLM in a Chinese population.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed all patients with SDLM from January 2005 to December 2014 in our hospital. Clinical variables included gender, age, duration, age of onset, affected side, symptoms and trauma history as well as arthroscopic findings: DLM types, tear patterns and concomitant medial meniscus tear, which were evaluated and compared statistically.ResultsOf the 496 consecutive participants with SDLM, females outnumbered males (69.6 % vs. 30.4 %). The age of onset ranged from 3 to 80 years (median, 31 years), and was significantly higher in females than in males (p < 0.0001). Trauma history in males was significantly higher than in females (45 % vs. 35.1 %, p = 0.0356). Males showed a higher incidence of popping and snapping, while females manifested higher range-of-motion (ROM) limitations (p = 0.0179, and p = 0.0392, respectively). No significant difference in intra-articular variants was observed between genders. The complete type was the most frequent (344, 69.4 %), followed by the incomplete type (149, 30 %), and the Wrisberg type (3, 0.6 %). Significant difference in tear patterns was found between complete and incomplete types (p < 0.0001). Few patients showed medial meniscus tear (11, 2.2 %), at a significantly higher age compared with patients without tear (median, 57 years vs. 33 years, p < 0.0001).ConclusionsThe majority of Chinese patients with SDLM are young and middle-aged females. Female patients had an older age of onset, higher incidence of ROM limitation and limited trauma history. The complete type is the most common, with tear patterns varying between complete and incomplete types. The SDLM does not significantly affect the medial meniscus.

Kinematic features in patients with lateral discoid meniscus injury during walking

“…Chen et al . 20 have reported the symptoms of discoid meniscus injury in both men and women. Popping and snapping were mainly found in males, and restricted ROM was mainly found in females.…”

Bilateral discoid medial meniscus associated with meniscal tears and hypoplasia of the medial femoral condyle

“…Symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus tear occurs mainly in young and middle-aged women in the Chinese population. [ 13 ]…”

Influential factors of postoperative outcomes of symptomatic lateral discoid meniscus

“…Clinically, discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is common. The reported incidence of DLM is 13% in china [18], 16.6% in Japan [23], 10.9% in Korea [26] and 5.8% in India [39]. The prevalence of DLM in the western population ranges from 0.4% to 17% [48].…”

“…Although the overall postoperative clinical outcomes of symptomatic DLM are acceptable [11,17,38], the outcomes still differ among individuals, possibly as a result of the diversity in patient characteristics and treatments [31]. Recently studies have reported several factors that in uence postoperative effect in symptomatic DLM, but the sample sizes used in these studies are uneven, and the results are inconsistent [10][11]19,28]. The present research independently analyses 14 possible in uences, including gender, body mass index (BMI), and other factors, in a larger series of patients with the goal of identifying the factors that in uence postoperative outcome in patients with symptomatic DLM and thereby guiding clinical application.…”