Partial medial meniscectomy leads to altered walking mechanics two years after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: Meniscal repair does not.
Jacob J Capin, Ashutosh Khandha, Thomas S Buchanan and 1 others
PMID 31491565WHAT IT FOUND
Two years after ACL reconstruction, athletes who also had a partial medial meniscectomy walked with smaller knee flexion angles and higher medial knee forces than those with meniscus repair or no injury.
This altered mechanics may explain their higher risk of developing osteoarthritis.
Key findings
01Participants after partial medial meniscectomy walked with smaller involved limb peak knee flexion angles compared to the no medial meniscus involvement and medial meniscus repair groups.
02Participants in the partial medial meniscectomy group walked with higher involved versus uninvolved limb peak medial compartment contact forces, with an interlimb difference exceeding the meaningful threshold.
03The mean quadriceps strength index in the partial medial meniscectomy group was lower than in the no medial meniscus involvement or medial meniscus repair groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The groups were not equal in size, and the sample was modest (56 total), which limits statistical power. The study did not use musculoskeletal imaging to confirm the presence or severity of osteoarthritis at the time of the 2-year follow-up. The cohort consisted of young athletes, so findings may not generalize to older or less active populations. Post-hoc corrections for multiple comparisons were not applied to avoid Type II error, which increases the risk of Type I error (false positives).
Declared interests
The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or writing of the manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that quadriceps strength differences were statistically significant between groups. The study found no significant difference in strength index, although the partial meniscectomy group had a clinically lower mean. The primary finding was altered gait mechanics, not weakness.