Signs of knee osteoarthritis common in 620 patients undergoing arthroscopic surgery for meniscal tear

摘要

Background and purpose — Recent evidence has questioned the effect of arthroscopic knee surgery for middle-aged and older patients with degenerative meniscal tears with or without concomitant radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA). We investigated the prevalence of early or more established knee OA and patients’ characteristics in a cohort of patients undergoing arthroscopic surgery for a meniscal tear.Patients and methods — 641 patients assigned for arthroscopy on suspicion of meniscus tear were consecutively recruited from February 2013 through January 2015. Of these, 620 patients (mean age 49 (18–77) years, 57% men) with full datasets available were included in the present study. Prior to surgery, patients completed questionnaires regarding onset of symptoms, duration of symptoms, and mechanical symptoms along with the knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS). At arthroscopy, the operating surgeon recorded information about meniscal pathology and cartilage damage. Early or more established kn...