Arthroscopic Treatment of Meniscal Cyst

Meniscal cysts of the knee are rare, but methods of treatment have been evolving. We treated 23 patients with 24 meniscal cysts by arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and cyst decompression. Their average age was 30 years (range, 18-72 years). Each patient had tenderness over the joint line and 14 knees (60%) had palpable mass. There were 24 cases of meniscal cysts, with 1 patient having a bilateral cyst. 9 cysts involved the lateral meniscus and 15 cysts involved the medial. All cases had a meniscal tear; most of the tears were horizontal. The treatment were successful in all cases, with no recurrence after an average follow-up of 6.7 months.