Trial reportBritish journal of sports medicine2020
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.
Trial report in British journal of sports medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 74 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.
Efficacy of Arthroscopic Partial Resection for the Degenerative Tear of the Medial Meniscus of a Knee
Effect of Arthroscopic Partial Resection of Degenerative Meniscus Tear on Development of Knee Osteoarthritis: Which is the Chicken and the Egg?
Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 129 citations in OpenAlex.
- Arthroscopic surgery is not superior to conservative treatment in knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trails.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Pooled it
- Patients with discoid menisci have similar clinical outcomes to those without discoid menisci when undergoing surgical intervention: a systematic review.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2023Pooled it
- 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
- Effectiveness of exercise versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy plus exercise in the management of degenerative meniscal tears at 5-year follow-up: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2023Pooled it
- Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee disease (osteoarthritis including degenerative meniscal tears).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Meniscal repair: The current state and recent advances in augmentation.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Patient Portal Message Framing on Treatment Preferences and Expectations for Degenerative Meniscus Tears: Randomized Exploratory Cross-Sectional Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Trial
- Effects of blood flow restriction combined with electrical stimulation on muscle functions and performance in university football players with knee osteoarthritis.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Radiographic Changes Five Years After Treatment of Meniscal Tear and Osteoarthritic Changes.Arthritis care & research · 2025Trial
- 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
- Knee Arthroscopic Surgery in Middle-Aged Patients With Meniscal Symptoms: A 10-Year Follow-up of a Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial.The American journal of sports medicine · 2024Trial
- Incidence of Total Knee Arthroplasty After Arthroscopic Surgery for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Effect of Physical Therapy vs Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy in People With Degenerative Meniscal Tears: Five-Year Follow-up of the ESCAPE Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- 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
- In patients eligible for meniscal surgery who first receive physical therapy, multivariable prognostic models cannot predict who will eventually undergo surgery.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2022Trial
- Arthroscopic All-Inside Meniscal Tying for Anterior Horn Bucket-Handle Meniscal Injuries.Arthroscopy techniques · 2026Article
- Clinical outcomes of meniscal repair using bone marrow aspirate-derived fibrin clot: A comparison of tears with and without meniscal cysts.International orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Meniscal tissue engineering: Bridging clinical needs and experimental innovation.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2026Review
- Review
- The sensitivity of patient-reported outcome measures in surgical and non-surgical care: a systematic review and meta-epidemiological evaluation of randomised controlled trials.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 9 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo assess the long-term effects of arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) on the development of radiographic knee osteoarthritis, and on knee symptoms and function, at 5 years follow-up.
designMulticentre, randomised, participant- and outcome assessor-blinded, placebo-surgery controlled trial.
settingOrthopaedic departments in five public hospitals in Finland.
participants146 adults, mean age 52 years (range 35-65 years), with knee symptoms consistent with degenerative medial meniscus tear verified by MRI scan and arthroscopically, and no clinical signs of knee osteoarthritis were randomised.
interventionsAPM or placebo surgery (diagnostic knee arthroscopy).
main outcome measuresWe used two indices of radiographic knee osteoarthritis (increase in Kellgren and Lawrence grade ≥1, and increase in Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) atlas radiographic joint space narrowing and osteophyte sum score, respectively), and three validated patient-relevant measures of knee symptoms and function (Western Ontario Meniscal Evaluation Tool (WOMET), Lysholm, and knee pain after exercise using a numerical rating scale).
resultsThere was a consistent, slightly greater risk for progression of radiographic knee osteoarthritis in the APM group as compared with the placebo surgery group (adjusted absolute risk difference in increase in Kellgren-Lawrence grade ≥1 of 13%, 95% CI -2% to 28%; adjusted absolute mean difference in OARSI sum score 0.7, 95% CI 0.1 to 1.3). There were no relevant between-group differences in the three patient-reported outcomes: adjusted absolute mean differences (APM vs placebo surgery), -1.7 (95% CI -7.7 to 4.3) in WOMET, -2.1 (95% CI -6.8 to 2.6) in Lysholm knee score, and -0.04 (95% CI -0.81 to 0.72) in knee pain after exercise, respectively. The corresponding adjusted absolute risk difference in the presence of mechanical symptoms was 18% (95% CI 5% to 31%); there were more symptoms reported in the APM group. All other secondary outcomes comparisons were similar.
conclusionsAPM was associated with a slightly increased risk of developing radiographic knee osteoarthritis and no concomitant benefit in patient-relevant outcomes, at 5 years after surgery.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01052233 and NCT00549172).
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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.