Midterm and Long-term Results After Arthroscopic Suture Repair of Isolated, Longitudinal, Vertical Meniscal Tears in Stable Knees

BackgroundThe long-term outcome of meniscal suture repair has not been firmly established.PurposeTo compare the midterm and long-term functional and radiographic outcome of meniscal suture repairs with the natural history of the uninjured knees of each of a cohort of patients.Study DesignCohort study; Level of evidence, 3.MethodsEighty-eight patients with an isolated, longitudinal, vertical tear of one of the menisci within a stable knee were arthroscopically treated with a meniscal suture repair. No patient had a previous surgery, and no additional chondral lesion was present. The opposite knee of each patient was uninjured. Both knees of each patient were examined clinically and radiographically in a retrospective follow-up 5 to 17 years (mean, 10 years) after meniscal repair.ResultsThree patients with postoperative complications and 21 patients whose menisci had to be removed because of rerupture were excluded from further evaluation for purposes of this study. The remaining 64 patients reached a mean ...