Controversial role of arthroscopic meniscectomy of the knee: A review

Is Arthroscopic Meniscectomy Associated With an Increased Risk of Total Knee Arthroplasty for Claimants in the Workers' Compensation System? A 10-Year Study of Workers' Compensation Claims From a Large Nationwide Workers' Compensation Insurance Carrier

BACKGROUND

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a commonly performed knee surgery and prior arthroscopic meniscectomy (AM) has been linked to an increased risk of TKA in the general population.

OBJECTIVE

To study the relationship between AM and TKA among injured workers whose medical care is paid for under workers' compensation (WC).

METHOD

A total of 17,247 lost-time claims depicting all arthroscopic knee surgical procedures performed from 2007 to 2017 were followed to the end of 2022 and analyzed.

RESULTS

The odds ratio of undergoing a TKA for those with a preceding AM is 2.20, controlling for age, sex, and attorney involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

Undergoing an AM is associated with an increased risk of TKA in WC claimants.

Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee disease (osteoarthritis including degenerative meniscal tears)

BACKGROUND

Arthroscopic knee surgery remains a common treatment for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, including for degenerative meniscal tears, despite guidelines strongly recommending against its use. This Cochrane Review is an update of a non-Cochrane systematic review published in 2017.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the benefits and harms of arthroscopic surgery, including debridement, partial menisectomy or both, compared with placebo surgery or non-surgical treatment in people with degenerative knee disease (osteoarthritis, degenerative meniscal tears, or both).

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, and two trials registers up to 16 April 2021, unrestricted by language.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), or trials using quasi-randomised methods of participant allocation, comparing arthroscopic surgery with placebo surgery or non-surgical interventions (e.g. exercise, injections, non-arthroscopic lavage/irrigation, drug therapy, and supplements and complementary therapies) in people with symptomatic degenerative knee disease (osteoarthritis or degenerative meniscal tears or both). Major outcomes were pain, function, participant-reported treatment success, knee-specific quality of life, serious adverse events, total adverse events and knee surgery (replacement or osteotomy).

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently selected studies for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias and the certainty of evidence using GRADE. The primary comparison was arthroscopic surgery compared to placebo surgery for outcomes that measured benefits of surgery, but we combined data from all control groups to assess harms and knee surgery (replacement or osteotomy).

MAIN RESULTS

Sixteen trials (2105 participants) met our inclusion criteria. The average age of participants ranged from 46 to 65 years, and 56% of participants were women. Four trials (380 participants) compared arthroscopic surgery to placebo surgery. For the remaining trials, arthroscopic surgery was compared to exercise (eight trials, 1371 participants), a single intra-articular glucocorticoid injection (one trial, 120 participants), non-arthroscopic lavage (one trial, 34 participants), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (one trial, 80 participants) and weekly hyaluronic acid injections for five weeks (one trial, 120 participants). The majority of trials without a placebo control were susceptible to bias: in particular, selection (56%), performance (75%), detection (75%), attrition (44%) and selective reporting (75%) biases. The placebo-controlled trials were less susceptible to bias and none were at risk of performance or detection bias. Here we limit reporting to the main comparison, arthroscopic surgery versus placebo surgery. High-certainty evidence indicates arthroscopic surgery leads to little or no difference in pain or function at three months after surgery, moderate-certainty evidence indicates there is probably little or no improvement in knee-specific quality of life three months after surgery, and low-certainty evidence indicates arthroscopic surgery may lead to little or no difference in participant-reported success at up to five years, compared with placebo surgery. Mean post-operative pain in the placebo group was 40.1 points on a 0 to 100 scale (where lower score indicates less pain) compared to 35.5 points in the arthroscopic surgery group, a difference of 4.6 points better (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.02 better to 9 better; I² = 0%; 4 trials, 309 participants). Mean post-operative function in the placebo group was 75.9 points on a 0 to 100 rating scale (where higher score indicates better function) compared to 76 points in the arthroscopic surgery group, a difference of 0.1 points better (95% CI 3.2 worse to 3.4 better; I² = 0%; 3 trials, 302 participants). Mean post-operative knee-specific health-related quality of life in the placebo group was 69.7 points on a 0 to 100 rating scale (where higher score indicates better quality of life) compared with 75.3 points in the arthroscopic surgery group, a difference of 5.6 points better (95% CI 0.36 better to 10.68 better; I² = 0%; 2 trials, 188 participants). We downgraded this evidence to moderate certainty as the 95% confidence interval does not rule in or rule out a clinically important change. After surgery, 74 out of 100 people reported treatment success with placebo and 82 out of 100 people reported treatment success with arthroscopic surgery at up to five years (risk ratio (RR) 1.11, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.86; I² = 53%; 3 trials, 189 participants). We downgraded this evidence to low certainty due to serious indirectness (diversity in definition and timing of outcome measurement) and serious imprecision (small number of events). We are less certain if the risk of serious or total adverse events increased with arthroscopic surgery compared to placebo or non-surgical interventions. Serious adverse events were reported in 6 out of 100 people in the control groups and 8 out of 100 people in the arthroscopy groups from eight trials (RR 1.35, 95% CI 0.64 to 2.83; I² = 47%; 8 trials, 1206 participants). Fifteen out of 100 people reported adverse events with control interventions, and 17 out of 100 people with surgery at up to five years (RR 1.15, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.70; I² = 48%; 9 trials, 1326 participants). The certainty of the evidence was low, downgraded twice due to serious imprecision (small number of events) and possible reporting bias (incomplete reporting of outcome across studies). Serious adverse events included death, pulmonary embolism, acute myocardial infarction, deep vein thrombosis and deep infection. Subsequent knee surgery (replacement or high tibial osteotomy) was reported in 2 out of 100 people in the control groups and 4 out of 100 people in the arthroscopy surgery groups at up to five years in four trials (RR 2.63, 95% CI 0.94 to 7.34; I² = 11%; 4 trials, 864 participants). The certainty of the evidence was low, downgraded twice due to the small number of events.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Arthroscopic surgery provides little or no clinically important benefit in pain or function, probably does not provide clinically important benefits in knee-specific quality of life, and may not improve treatment success compared with a placebo procedure. It may lead to little or no difference, or a slight increase, in serious and total adverse events compared to control, but the evidence is of low certainty. Whether or not arthroscopic surgery results in slightly more subsequent knee surgery (replacement or osteotomy) compared to control remains unresolved.

Bounding the Implications of Noncompliance in Randomized Controlled Trials in Orthopaedics: An Example in Arthroscopic Surgery

INTRODUCTION

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are not impervious to bias especially when there are substantial numbers of patients who cross over from the treatment assigned by randomization to another treatment group, leading to loss of confidence in study results. The goals of this study were to (1) quantify the effects of crossovers on RCTs, (2) describe the specific effects of crossovers on RCTs for arthroscopic meniscectomy for osteoarthritis of the knee (APM/OAK), and (3) assess the confidence in APM/OAK in which there have been substantial numbers of patients crossing over to another treatment group than that assigned.

METHODS

Studies were included that were RCTs of APM/OAK with intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis and illustrated the problem of crossovers on confidence in the analysis. Studies were excluded if they consisted of APM for conditions other than OAK or had unavailability of data needed for the analysis. For eligible RCTs, the ITT effect was calculated; bounds for the average treatment effect (ATE) and the complier ATE were assessed by estimating confidence intervals for the bound through robust Bayesian analysis.

RESULTS

The eligible studies had different comparators and, therefore, were analyzed individually. Data were not pooled. The most extreme point estimates (with 95% confidence interval) for ITT ranged from -0.01 to 0.04 (-0.16 to 0.16); for ATE with no assumptions, 0.38 (-0.58 to 0.43) to 0.62 (0.56 to 0.70); for ATE with minimum assumptions, -0.50 (-0.22 to 0.10) to 0.61 (0.53 to 0.57); and for complier ATE, -0.01 to 0.07 (-0.22 to 0.24).

DISCUSSION

These data suggest large bounds, crossing the threshold of "no effect," which indicates a high degree of uncertainty and low confidence in the RCTs studied. The results demonstrate that when there are crossovers, ITT analyses do not estimate the ATE and confidence in the results of these RCTs is low.

DATA AVAILABILITY

All analyzed data are provided in the article.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level I (therapeutic study = RCT).

Collagen: quantification, biomechanics, and role of minor subtypes in cartilage

Collagen is a ubiquitous biomaterial in vertebrate animals. Although each of its 28 subtypes contributes to the functions of many different tissues in the body, most studies on collagen or collagenous tissues have focussed on only one or two subtypes. With recent developments in analytical chemistry, especially mass spectrometry, significant advances have been made toward quantifying the different collagen subtypes in various tissues; however, high-throughput and low-cost methods for collagen subtype quantification do not yet exist. In this Review, we introduce the roles of collagen subtypes and crosslinks, and describe modern assays that enable a deep understanding of tissue physiology and disease states. Using cartilage as a model tissue, we describe the roles of major and minor collagen subtypes in detail; discuss known and unknown structure-function relationships; and show how tissue engineers may harness the functional characteristics of collagen to engineer robust neotissues.

Degenerative Meniscus Lesions: An Expert Consensus Statement Using the Modified Delphi Technique

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to perform an evidence-based, expert consensus survey using the Delphi panel methodology to develop recommendations for the treatment of degenerative meniscus tears.

METHODS

Twenty panel members were asked to respond to 10 open-ended questions in rounds 1 and 2. The results of the first 2 rounds served to develop a Likert-style questionnaire for round 3. In round 4, the panel members outside consensus were contacted and asked to either change their score in view of the group's response or argue their case. The level of agreement for round 4 was defined as 80%.

RESULTS

There was 100% agreement on the following items: insidious onset, physiological part of aging, tears often multiplanar, not all tears cause symptoms, outcomes depend on degree of osteoarthritis, obesity is a predictor of poor outcome, and younger patients (<50 years) have better outcomes. There was between 90% and 100% agreement on the following items: tears are nontraumatic, radiographs should be weightbearing, initial treatment should be conservative, platelet-rich plasma is not a good option, repairable and peripheral tears should be repaired, microfracture is not a good option for chondral defects, the majority of patients obtain significant improvement and decrease in pain with surgery but results are variable, short-term symptoms have better outcomes, and malalignment and root tears have poor outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

This consensus statement agreed that degenerative meniscus tears are a normal part of aging. Not all tears cause symptoms and, when symptomatic, they should initially be treated nonoperatively. Repairable tears should be repaired. The outcome of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy depends on the degree of osteoarthritis, the character of the meniscus lesion, the degree of loss of joint space, the amount of malalignment, and obesity. The majority of patients had significant improvement, but younger patients and patients with short-term symptoms have better outcomes.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level V - expert opinion.

Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction With Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy for Degenerative and Traumatic Tears in Middle-Aged Patients With No or Mild Osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND

There is controversy about the benefit of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) for degenerative lesions in middle-aged patients.

PURPOSE

To compare satisfaction with APM between middle-aged patients with no or mild knee osteoarthritis (OA) and a degenerative meniscal tear and those with a traumatic tear.

STUDY DESIGN

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

METHODS

A comparative prospective study at 5 years of middle-aged patients (45-60 years old) with no or mild OA undergoing APM for degenerative (n = 115) or traumatic (n = 143) tears was conducted. Patient satisfaction was measured by a 5-point Likert scale and functional outcomes by the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to identify factors correlating with patient-reported satisfaction at 5 years postoperatively.

RESULTS

Baseline patient characteristics were not different between groups. At the 5-year evaluation, the satisfaction rate in the traumatic and degenerative groups was 68.5% versus 71.3%, respectively (P = .365). Patient satisfaction was significantly associated with functional outcomes (r = 0.69; P = .024). In the degenerative group, 43 patients (37.4%) had OA progression to Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grade 2 or 3, but only 24 patients (20.8%) had a symptomatic knee at final follow-up. Multivariate regression analysis for patient dissatisfaction at 5-year follow-up showed the following significant independent factors: female sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.6 [95% CI, 1.1-2.3]; P = .018), body mass index >30 kg/m² (OR, 2.6 [95% CI, 1.7-4.9]; P = .035), lateral meniscal tears (OR, 0.6 [95% CI, 0.1-0.9]; P = .039), and OA progression to K-L grade ≥2 at final follow-up (OR, 1.4 [95% CI, 1.2-2.6]; P = .014). At the final evaluation, there were no significant differences between groups in pain scores (P = .648), WOMAC scores (P = .083), or KOOS-4 scores (P = .187). Likewise, there were no significant differences in the KOOS subscores for Pain (P = .144), Symptoms (P = .097), or Sports/Recreation (P = .150). Although the degenerative group had significantly higher subscores for Activities of Daily Living (P = .001) and Quality of Life (P = .004), the differences were considered not clinically meaningful.

CONCLUSION

There were no meaningful differences in patient satisfaction or clinical outcomes between patients with traumatic and degenerative tears and no or mild OA. Predictors of dissatisfaction with APM were female sex, obesity, and lateral meniscal tears. Our findings suggested that APM was an effective medium-term option to relieve pain and recover function in middle-aged patients with degenerative meniscal tears, without obvious OA, and with failed prior physical therapy.

Increased rates of knee arthroplasty and cost of patients with meniscal tears treated with arthroscopic partial meniscectomy versus non-operative management

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to determine the cost of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM), one of the most common surgeries performed by orthopaedic surgeons, and the associated rate of progression to knee arthroplasty (KA) compared to patients treated non-operatively after diagnosis of meniscal tear.

METHODS

Utilizing data mining software (PearlDiver, Colorado Springs, CO), a national insurance database of approximately 23.5 million orthopaedic patients was queried for patients diagnosed with a meniscal tear. Patients were classified by treatment: non-operative and arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and were followed after initial diagnosis for cost and progression to knee arthroplasty.

RESULTS

There were 176,407 subjects in the non-op group and 114,194 subjects in the arthroscopic partial meniscectomy group. Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy generated more cost than non-operative ($3842.57 versus $411.05, P < 0.001). Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy demonstrated greater propensity to need future knee arthroplasty (11.4% at 676 days) than those treated non-operatively (9.5% at 402 days) (P < 0.001). Female patients demonstrated a higher rate of progression to knee arthroplasty in the arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and non-operative groups (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Compared to non-operative treatment for meniscal tears, arthroscopic partial meniscectomy is more expensive and does not appear to decrease the rate of progression to knee arthroplasty. Patients undergoing arthroscopic partial meniscectomy yielded on average a delay of only 9 months (274 days) before undergoing knee arthroplasty. Female patients experienced a significantly higher rate of progression to knee arthroplasty. The authors recognize the limitations of this type of study including its retrospective nature, reliance upon accurate coding and billing information, and the inability to determine whether symptoms including mechanical locking played a role in the decision to perform an APM.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.

Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy Versus Physical Therapy for Degenerative Meniscus Lesions: How Robust Is the Current Evidence? A Critical Systematic Review and Qualitative Synthesis

PURPOSE

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate study quality and risk of bias for randomized trials comparing partial meniscectomy with physical therapy in middle-aged patients with degenerative meniscus tears.

METHODS

A systematic review of Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar was performed from 1990 through 2017. The inclusion criteria were at least 1 validated outcome score, and middle-aged patients (40 years and older) with a degenerative meniscus tear. Studies with a sham arm, and acute and concomitant injuries were excluded. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. The quality of studies was assessed with the Cochrane GRADE tool and quality assessment tool (Effective Public Health Practice Project). Publication bias was assessed by funnel plot and Egger's test. The I² statistics was calculated a measure of statistical heterogeneity.

RESULTS

Six studies were included, and all were assessed as having a high risk of bias. There was no publication bias (P = .23). All studies were downgraded (low, n = 5; very low, n = 1). The Effective Public Health Practice Project assessed 1 study as strong, 2 as moderate, and 3 as weak. The overall results demonstrated moderate to low quality of the included studies. The I² statistic was 96.2%, demonstrating substantial heterogeneity between studies.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this systematic review strongly suggest that there is currently no compelling evidence to support arthroscopic partial meniscectomy versus physical therapy. The studies evaluated here exhibited a high risk of bias, and the weak to moderate quality of the available studies, the small sample sizes, and the diverse study characteristics do not allow any meaningful conclusions to be drawn. Therefore, the validity of the results and conclusions of prior systematic reviews and meta-analyses must be viewed with extreme caution. The quality of the available published literature is not robust enough at this time to support claims of superiority for either alternative, and both arthroscopic partial meniscectomy or physical therapy could be considered reasonable treatment options for this condition.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level II, systematic review of Level I and II studies.

Nanofibrous scaffolds for biomedical applications

Tissue engineering is an emergent and very interesting research field, providing potential solutions for a myriad of challenges in healthcare. Fibrous scaffolds specifically have shown promise as an effective tissue engineering method, as their high length-to-width ratio mimics that of extracellular matrix components, which in turn guides tissue formation, promotes cellular adhesion and improves mechanical properties. In this review paper, we discuss in detail both the importance of fibrous scaffolds for the promotion of tissue growth and the different methods to produce fibrous biomaterials to possess favorable and unique characteristics. Here, we focus on the pressing need to develop biomimetic structures that promote an ideal environment to encourage tissue formation. In addition, we discuss different biomedical applications in which fibrous scaffolds can be useful, identifying their importance, relevant aspects, and remaining significant challenges. In conclusion, we provide comments on the future direction of fibrous scaffolds and the best way to produce them, proposed in light of recent technological advances and the newest and most promising fabrication techniques.

Knee osteoarthritis, degenerative meniscal lesion and osteonecrosis of the knee: Can a simple gait test direct us to a better clinical diagnosis

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the current study was to compare the gait patterns in patients with three differing knee pathologies - knee osteoarthritis (OA), degenerative meniscal lesion (DML) and spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK) and a group of healthy controls.

HYPOTHESIS

A simple gait test will detect differences between different knee pathologies.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Forty-seven patients with bilateral knee OA, 47 patients with DML, 28 patients with SONK and 27 healthy controls were included in this analysis. Patients underwent a spatiotemporal gait assessment and were asked to complete the Western Ontario and McMaster University (WOMAC) Index and the Short-Form (SF)-36 Health Survey. ANOVA tests, followed by Bonferroni multiple comparison tests and the Chi² tests were performed for continuous and categorical variables, respectively.

RESULTS

Significant differences were found for all gait measures and clinical questionnaires between healthy controls and all knee conditions. Patients with SONK differed from patients with bilateral knee OA and DML in all gait measures and clinical questionnaires, except for WOMAC subscales. There were no significant differences between patients with bilateral knee OA and patients with DML. Symmetry was also examined and revealed asymmetry in some gait parameters in patients with SONK and DML.

DISCUSSION

Based on the differences in gait parameters that were found in the current study, adding an objective functional spatiotemporal gait test may assist in the diagnostic process of knee pathologies.

TYPE OF STUDY

Case Control study Level III.