Open AccessSecond-Look Arthroscopic Evaluation of Healing Rates After Arthroscopic Repair of Meniscal Tears: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Author(s) -
Wenli Dai,
Xi Leng,
Jian Wang,
Xiaoqing Hu,
Yingfang Ao
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
orthopaedic journal of sports medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2325-9671
DOI - 10.1177/23259671211038289
Subject(s) - medicine , meta analysis , meniscus , surgery , arthroscopy , tears , subgroup analysis , systematic review , anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction , confidence interval , anterior cruciate ligament , medline , incidence (geometry) , physics , optics , political science , law
Background: Evaluation of meniscal healing status after repair is important, as it allows the surgeon to inform patients whether they can increase their activities or return to sports.Purpose: To identify the healing rates after arthroscopic repair of meniscal tears via second-look arthroscopic evaluation.Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4.Methods: Searches of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane databases were conducted to identify relevant studies published before June 1, 2020. Studies were eligible for this meta-analysis if they provided data regarding healing status of the meniscus at second-look arthroscopy. Random-effects meta-analyses were generated to provide pooled meniscal healing estimates. We further performed subgroup analysis to investigate the healing rates of the meniscus under different situations.Results: A total of 41 studies with 1908 individuals were included in the study. The pooled analysis showed the complete healing rate was 74% (95% confidence interval [CI], 67%-80%), the partial healing rate was 10% (95% CI, 6%-16%), and the failure rate was 12% (95% CI, 10%-15%) for arthroscopic repair of meniscal tears via second-look arthroscopic evaluation. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that no individual study affected the overall healing rate by >1%. Subgroup analysis found higher meniscal healing rates in patients with the following characteristics: age 12 months.Conclusion: In this systematic review, the complete healing rate was 74%, the partial healing rate was 10%, and the failure rate was 12% for arthroscopic repair of meniscal tears via second-look arthroscopic evaluation.