Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36896669›Full record

ArticleSports health

Improved Outcome With Knee Arthroscopy Relative to Physiotherapy for Symptomatic Unstable Meniscal Tears: 2-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Mark D Porter, Bruce Shadbolt

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Sports health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 43% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Mark D PorterCanberra Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Deakin, Australia.
Bruce ShadboltDepartment of Epidemiology, Canberra Hospital, Garran, Australia.
Canberra Hospital · AUSports Medicine Australia · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough preservation of meniscal tissue is paramount, there are occasions when repair of a torn meniscus is not possible. The surgical option may be a partial meniscectomy, the objective being to alleviate the patient's symptoms with resection of only that portion of the meniscus that is no longer functioning but is the cause of symptoms. Previous studies have questioned the need to perform such surgery and have recommended nonoperative treatment instead. Our goal was to compare the outcome of partial meniscectomy with that of physiotherapy alone for irreparable meniscal tears. HYPOTHESIS: Clinical outcome following arthroscopic partial meniscectomy may differ from that following physiotherapy alone, for patients with symptomatic irreparable meniscal tears. STUDY

designNonrandomized prospective cohort study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 2.

methodsPatients satisfying the inclusion criteria chose to undergo knee arthroscopy (group A) or physiotherapy (group B). The diagnosis of a meniscal tear was made on physical assessment and magnetic resonance imaging examination. The meniscal tear was preventing them from continuing with their regular weightbearing exercise. Outcomes of interest were the following patient-reported outcomes (PROs): the Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and Tegner Activity Score (TAS), with minimal clinically important differences being 10 and 1, respectively. PROs were completed at baseline, and at 1-year and 2-year follow-up. Changes in scores within and between groups were compared using analysis of variance and Wilcoxon tests (

resultsOf 528 patients enrolled in the study, 10 were lost to follow-up and 8 were excluded. Data were complete for 269 in group A, and 228 in Group B. Group A and B were similar in terms of age (41.1 years, SD 7.8 vs 40 years, SD 13.3), body mass index (22.5 kg/m2, SD 3.1 vs 23.1 kg/m2, SD 2.3), radiographic grade of osteoarthritis (median grade 2, range 0-3 in both groups), gender (male:female = 134:135 vs 112:116), and duration of symptoms (44.4 days, SD 5.6 vs 46.6 days, SD 8.8), with

conclusionPerforming a knee arthroscopy with partial meniscectomy is associated with improved KOOS and TAS, relative to treatment with physiotherapy alone, at 2-year follow-up. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Physically active patients with symptomatic irreparable meniscal tears may experience a better clinical outcome following knee arthroscopy, relative to to physiotherapy alone.

Indexed as

Knee InjuriesOsteoarthritis, KneeAdultArthroscopyFemaleHumansKnee JointMaleMeniscectomyMenisci, TibialPhysical Therapy ModalitiesProspective Studiesarthroscopykneemeniscusphysiotherapy

Identifiers

PMID36896669
PMCPMC11025505
OpenAlexW4323811267

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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.