Association Between Meniscal Allograft Tears and Early Surgical Meniscal Allograft Failure
April 28, 2022
Several UPMC Orthopaedic Care experts published a study in The American Journal of Sports Medicine to examine the association between meniscal allograft tears and early surgical meniscal allograft failure.
Meniscal allograft transplantation (MAT) has become a viable treatment option for patients with symptomatic meniscal deficiency. Some patients experience early surgical meniscal allograft failure attributed to causes that have not yet been sufficiently clarified.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, types, and distribution of arthroscopically confirmed meniscal allograft tears and the associated effect on surgical meniscal allograft survival.
Patients undergoing MAT with a minimum 2-year follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. Descriptive and surgical data were collected. Type and location of arthroscopically confirmed meniscal allograft tears were recorded and compared between medial and lateral allografts and suture-only and bone block fixation. A survival analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of meniscal allograft tears on surgical meniscal allograft survival.
This study included 142 patients with a mean follow-up of 10.3 ± 7.5 years. The prevalence of meniscal allograft tears was 32%, observed at a median of 1.2 years (interquartile range, 2.8 years) after MAT. The posterior horns were most frequently affected, followed by the posterior roots, midbodies, anterior horns, and anterior roots. The most frequently observed tear types were root tears (43%), followed by longitudinal, horizontal, radial, complex, bucket-handle, and meniscocapsular separation tears. A statistically significant association was found between meniscal allograft tear types and fixation techniques, with root tears predominant after suture-only as compared with bone block. Patients with meniscal allograft root tears were a mean of 5.4 years younger than were patients without root tears. The 1-year surgical meniscal allograft survival rate was significantly lower for torn versus intact meniscal allografts.
In conclusion, meniscal allograft root tears were predominant, associated with younger patient age, and more often observed when using the suture-only fixation technique versus the bone block fixation technique. Torn meniscal allografts were associated with early surgical graft failure when compared with intact meniscal allografts, resulting in a significantly lower 1-year survival rate.
Read more about this study on PubMed.
Study authors include:
