Trial reportAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2018
Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy versus placebo surgery for a degenerative meniscus tear: a 2-year follow-up of the randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 142 citations in OpenAlex.
- No evidence in support of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy in adults with degenerative and nonobstructive meniscal symptoms: a level I evidence-based systematic review.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2023Pooled it
- Minimal invasions: is wrist arthroscopy supported by evidence? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Acta orthopaedica · 2023Pooled it
- Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee disease (osteoarthritis including degenerative meniscal tears).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of magnesium added to bupivacaine for arthroscopy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2021Pooled it
- Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy for a Degenerative Meniscus Tear Is Not Cost Effective Compared With Placebo Surgery: An Economic Evaluation Based on the FIDELITY Trial Data.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2024Trial
- Treatment of post-meniscectomy knee symptoms with medial meniscus replacement results in greater pain reduction and functional improvement than non-surgical care.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2022Trial
- Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for a degenerative meniscus tear: a 5 year follow-up of the placebo-surgery controlled FIDELITY (Finnish Degenerative Meniscus Lesion Study) trial.British journal of sports medicine · 2020Trial
- Statistical analysis plan for the 5-year and 10-year follow-up assessments of the FIDELITY trial.Trials · 2020Trial
- The 6-m timed hop test is a prognostic factor for outcomes in patients with meniscal tears treated with exercise therapy or arthroscopic partial meniscectomy: a secondary, exploratory analysis of the Odense-Oslo meniscectomy versus exercise (OMEX) trial.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2019Trial
- Subacromial decompression versus diagnostic arthroscopy for shoulder impingement: randomised, placebo surgery controlled clinical trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2018Trial
- Review
- Safety and Survival Rate of a Biomimetic Osteochondral Scaffold for the Treatment of Lesions of the Knee Articular Surface.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- In-network multidisciplinary digital care improves outcomes in medicare advantage members with musculoskeletal diagnoses.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Reply to the Letter to the Editor: Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy for a Degenerative Meniscus Tear Is Not Cost Effective Compared With Placebo Surgery: An Economic Evaluation Based on the FIDELITY Trial Data.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Article
- Expectation fulfillment is associated with good outcomes and patient satisfaction after knee arthroplasty: a prospective study in a multi-ethnic Asian population.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Evaluation of radiographic knee OA progression after arthroscopic meniscectomy compared with IACI for degenerative meniscus tear.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Report on Evolving Indications, Technique, and Outcomes of Novel And Surgical Procedures-NUsurface.Current reviews in musculoskeletal medicine · 2025Review
- Postoperative infection, wrong-site surgery, and patient death after elective low-value orthopedic surgery: the epitome of preventable surgical complications.Patient safety in surgery · 2025Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
28 authors at 9 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess if arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) is superior to placebo surgery in the treatment of patients with degenerative tear of the medial meniscus.
methodsIn this multicentre, randomised, participant-blinded and outcome assessor-blinded, placebo-surgery controlled trial, 146 adults, aged 35-65 years, with knee symptoms consistent with degenerative medial meniscus tear and no knee osteoarthritis were randomised to APM or placebo surgery. The primary outcome was the between-group difference in the change from baseline in the Western Ontario Meniscal Evaluation Tool (WOMET) and Lysholm knee scores and knee pain after exercise at 24 months after surgery. Secondary outcomes included the frequency of unblinding of the treatment-group allocation, participants' satisfaction, impression of change, return to normal activities, the incidence of serious adverse events and the presence of meniscal symptoms in clinical examination. Two subgroup analyses, assessing the outcome on those with mechanical symptoms and those with unstable meniscus tears, were also carried out.
resultsIn the intention-to-treat analysis, there were no significant between-group differences in the mean changes from baseline to 24 months in WOMET score: 27.3 in the APM group as compared with 31.6 in the placebo-surgery group (between-group difference, -4.3; 95% CI, -11.3 to 2.6); Lysholm knee score: 23.1 and 26.3, respectively (-3.2; -8.9 to 2.4) or knee pain after exercise, 3.5 and 3.9, respectively (-0.4; -1.3 to 0.5). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in any of the secondary outcomes or within the analysed subgroups.
conclusionsIn this 2-year follow-up of patients without knee osteoarthritis but with symptoms of a degenerative medial meniscus tear, the outcomes after APM were no better than those after placebo surgery. No evidence could be found to support the prevailing ideas that patients with presence of mechanical symptoms or certain meniscus tear characteristics or those who have failed initial conservative treatment are more likely to benefit from APM.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.