Discoid lateral meniscus instability in children: part II.: Repair first to minimise the saucerisation

Despite an improved understanding of discoid lateral meniscus (DLM), the treatment of symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus remains controversial.

The aim of this retrospective, single-centred, consecutive-case study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of 60 DLM treated arthroscopically by the “meniscoplasty or saucerisation–suture” technique in children and adolescents [median (range) age 11 (4–17) years], and to investigate surgical failures. The instability was assessed before any saucerisation. The hypotheses were that: (i) the management of instability with suture first was effective and that (ii) a combined classification with clinical and MRI data had a prognostic value.

In 57 knees (95%), the DLM was unstable, and a suture fixation was performed. After a median follow-up of 41.5 months, the median (range) IKDC score was improved from 55 (10–70) preoperatively to 90 (37.5–100) postoperatively. The median (range) Lysholm score at last follow-up was 93.5 (45–100). The procedure was effective in 49 knees (81.6%) after a single procedure. Eleven patients had a failure with a new meniscal tear after a median (range) delay of 42 months (24–60) after the initial procedure. The patterns of discoid lateral meniscus instability were not found to have a prognostic value for surgical failure since they mainly occurred after sport-related injuries. All the patients with initial repair failures but one achieved a good clinical outcome after revision repair without any further meniscectomy.

In contrast to adult knees, symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus is rarely stable in children (5%). Meniscal repair is effective to preserve the meniscus tissue, but revision repair became necessary in 18% of the cases and was finally successful.