Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40291293›Full record

ReviewCureus2025

Meniscal Bucket-Handle Tears and Return to Sports in Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Vasiliki Tsakiri, Theofylaktos Kyriakidis, Polychronis Papadopoulos, Vasileios Davitis, Byron Chalidis, Periklis Papadopoulos, Ioannis Gigis

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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

7 authors.

Vasiliki Tsakiri2nd Orthopaedic Department, General Hospital "G. Gennimatas" Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Theofylaktos Kyriakidis2nd Orthopaedic Department, General Hospital "G. Gennimatas" Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Polychronis Papadopoulos2nd Orthopaedic Department, General Hospital "G. Gennimatas" Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Vasileios Davitis2nd Orthopaedic Department, General Hospital "G. Gennimatas" Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Byron ChalidisSchool of Medicine, 1st Orthopaedic Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Periklis Papadopoulos2nd Orthopaedic Department, General Hospital "G. Gennimatas" Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.
Ioannis Gigis2nd Orthopaedic Department, General Hospital "G. Gennimatas" Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GRC.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bucket-handle tears represent a subtype of meniscal injuries that involve a full-thickness longitudinal tear. These tears are challenging and demanding. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate return-to-sport outcomes in young adults with isolated bucket-handle meniscal tears treated surgically through meniscal repair. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, with two independent reviewers selecting studies from PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Studies were included if they involved patients over 16 years old, with isolated bucket-handle tears, a minimum of one-year follow-up, and reported postoperative Tegner scores. Five studies comprising 168 individual knees met these criteria and were analyzed. Quality assessment employed the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Data analysis was conducted in R (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) for pooled outcome calculations. The primary outcome was the postoperative Tegner score, representing a return to sports; secondary outcomes included changes in Tegner and Lysholm scores and failure rates. Two cohort studies and three case series were included, with quality ratings ranging from fair to poor. The mean patient age was 27.8 years, and the mean follow-up was 82.4 months. The pooled postoperative Tegner score was 5.94 (95% CI: 5.41-6.46), indicating a high return to recreational sports. The mean change in Tegner score was 2.48 (p = 0.0604), which was not statistically significant, while Lysholm score improvement was significant at 31.16 points (p = 0.0093). The pooled failure rate across studies was 14% (95% CI: 0-42%). Patients with isolated bucket-handle meniscal tears undergoing surgical repair demonstrate a high rate of return to recreational sports, with significant improvements in Lysholm scores. However, failure rates and study quality variability suggest further high-quality research to make safer conclusions.

Indexed as

bucket-handle tearsmeniscal repairmeniscal suturesreturn to sportsyoung patients

Identifiers

PMID40291293
PMCPMC12034012

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Registered trials

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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.