Abstract
Purpose
To determine sports activities achieved after meniscus transplantation and if associations exist between sports activity levels and transplant failure or progression of tibiofemoral osteoarthritis (OA).
Methods
A systematic search was performed using PubMed and Cochrane online databases. Inclusionary criteria were English language, clinical trials published from 1996 through May 2017, minimum 2 years of follow-up, and sports activity data reported.
Results
Twenty-eight studies were included in which 1521 menisci were implanted into 1497 patients. The mean age was 34.3 ± 6.7 years, and the mean follow-up was 5.0 ± 3.7 years. Details on sports activities were provided in 7 studies (285 patients) that reported 70–92% of patients returned to a wide variety of sports activities. Mean Tegner activity scores were reported in 24 investigations. The mean score was <5 in 58% of these studies, indicating many patients were participating in light recreational activities. There was no association between mean Tegner scores and transplant failure rates. A moderate correlation was found between failure rates and mean follow-up time (R = 0.63). The effect of sports activity levels on progression of tibiofemoral OA could not be determined because of limited data. Only two studies determined whether symptoms occurred during sports activities; these reported 1/38 (3%) and 5/69 (7%) patients had knee-related problems.
Conclusions
It appeared that the majority of individuals returned to low-impact athletic activities after meniscus transplantation. The short-term follow-up did not allow for an analysis on the effect of return to high-impact activities on transplant failure rates or progression of OA.
Level of evidence
IV.
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The present study has been carried out according to Good Clinical Practice principles and did not involve any human subject for experimentation purpose.
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Barber-Westin, S.D., Noyes, F.R. Low-impact sports activities are feasible after meniscus transplantation: a systematic review. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 26, 1950–1958 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-017-4658-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-017-4658-8