Korean J Sports Med.  2016 Jun;34(1):43-47. 10.5763/kjsm.2016.34.1.43.

Arthroscopic Findings of Isolated Meniscal Tears in Soldiers Younger Than 30 Years of Age

• Hwang TH
• Park KB
• Kim DH

• KMID: 2361668
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5763/kjsm.2016.34.1.43

Abstract

Meniscal tears are a common source of knee pain in military personnel. We aimed to investigate the arthroscopic findings of isolated meniscal tears in soldiers younger than 30 years of age. Between May 2011 and April 2014, a total of 36 soldiers with 37 knees who underwent arthroscopic surgeries for isolated meniscal tears were included in this study. All patients were male soldiers and average age was 22 years (range, 19 to 30 years). Thirty patients (83%) were identified as having trauma in sports activity or military training, but no definite trauma was documented in six patients. We analyzed whether medial or lateral meniscus, the location and type of tear according to the arthroscopic findings. The incidence of meniscal tears was nearly same for both knees (right 18 and left 19). Twenty-six of 37 tears (70%) were found in the lateral meniscus and 11 (30%) in the medial meniscus. Twenty-five tears (68%) were located in mid body and traumatic vertical type tears (65%) were more common than degenerative horizontal type tears (35%). Although our study based on relatively small cohort, isolated meniscal tears in young soldiers were usually resulted from trauma such as sports or ranger training and commonly located in lateral meniscus. Regarding the type of tear, traumatic vertical type was more common than degenerative horizontal type.

Keyword

Knee; Meniscus; Arthroscopy; Military

MeSH Terms

Arthroscopy
Cohort Studies
Humans
Incidence
Knee
Male
Menisci, Tibial
Military Personnel*
Sports
Tears*

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. Tears were classified according to the arthroscopically observed tear patterns. They are classified into longitudinal type (A), bucket handle type (B), radial type (C), vertical flap type (D), horizontal type (E), and complex type (F).

Reference

1.Seedhom BB., Dowson D., Wright V. Proceedings: functions of the menisci: a preliminary study. Ann Rheum Dis. 1974. 33:111.

2.Hsieh HH., Walker PS. Stabilizing mechanisms of the loaded and unloaded knee joint. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1976. 58:87–93.

3.Levy IM., Torzilli PA., Warren RF. The effect of medial meniscectomy on anterior-posterior motion of the knee. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1982. 64:883–8.

4.Voloshin AS., Wosk J. Shock absorption of meniscectomized and painful knees: a comparative in vivo study. J Biomed Eng. 1983. 5:157–61.

5.McDermott ID., Amis AA. The consequences of meniscectomy. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2006. 88:1549–56.

6.Yeh PC., Starkey C., Lombardo S., Vitti G., Kharrazi FD. Epidemiology of isolated meniscal injury and its effect on performance in athletes from the National Basketball Association. Am J Sports Med. 2012. 40:589–94.

7.Nepple JJ., Wright RW., Matava MJ., Brophy RH. Full-thickness knee articular cartilage defects in national football league combine athletes undergoing magnetic resonance imaging: prevalence, location, and association with previous surgery. Arthroscopy. 2012. 28:798–806.

8.Lauder TD., Baker SP., Smith GS., Lincoln AE. Sports and physical training injury hospitalizations in the army. Am J Prev Med. 2000. 18(3 Suppl):118–28.

9.Hauret KG., Taylor BJ., Clemmons NS., Block SR., Jones BH. Frequency and causes of nonbattle injuries air evacuated from operations iraqi freedom and enduring freedom, u.s. Army, 2001-2006. Am J Prev Med. 2010. 38(1 Suppl):S94–107.

10.Jones JC., Burks R., Owens BD., Sturdivant RX., Svoboda SJ., Cameron KL. Incidence and risk factors associated with meniscal injuries among active-duty US military service members. J Athl Train. 2012. 47:67–73.

11.Anderson AF., Irrgang JJ., Dunn W, et al. Interobserver reliability of the International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS) classification of meniscal tears. Am J Sports Med. 2011. 39:926–32.

12.Terzidis IP., Christodoulou A., Ploumis A., Givissis P., Natsis K., Koimtzis M. Meniscal tear characteristics in young athletes with a stable knee: arthroscopic evaluation. Am J Sports Med. 2006. 34:1170–5.

13.Baker BE., Peckham AC., Pupparo F., Sanborn JC. Review of meniscal injury and associated sports. Am J Sports Med. 1985. 13:1–4.

14.Kim SG., Nagao M., Kamata K., Maeda K., Nozawa M. Return to sport after arthroscopic meniscectomy on stable knees. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2013. 5:23.

15.McDermott I. Meniscal tears, repairs and replacement: their relevance to osteoarthritis of the knee. Br J Sports Med. 2011. 45:292–7.

16.Logan M., Watts M., Owen J., Myers P. Meniscal repair in the elite athlete: results of 45 repairs with a minimum 5-year follow-up. Am J Sports Med. 2009. 37:1131–4.

17.Poehling GG., Ruch DS., Chabon SJ. The landscape of meniscal injuries. Clin Sports Med. 1990. 9:539–49.

18.Noble J., Hamblen DL. The pathology of the degenerate meniscus lesion. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1975. 57:180–6.