The effectiveness of microfracture augmentation on the wall of femoral condyle in meniscal healing among patients with meniscus tears after sports injury.

BACKGROUND

Meniscus injuries are familiar sources of knee pain, with meniscus repair sometimes yielding unsatisfactory results. Microfracture is a standard procedure for treating articular cartilage damage in the knee that promotes the formation of fibrocartilage over damaged cartilage. Microfracture enhanced the healing rate of meniscus repair in animal models.

OBJECTIVE

Investigate the effectiveness of microfracture augmentation on the wall of femoral condyle in meniscus healing among patients with meniscus repair.

METHODS

The current study, conducted in a single center, involved patients with red-white zone meniscal tears due to sports injury who underwent arthroscopic meniscus repair between January 2018 and December 2023. Meniscal repair was performed without microfracture in the control group but with microfracture augmentation in the intervention group.

RESULTS

Functional outcomes, assessed using the Lysholm score, were significantly better in the microfracture group (p = 0.000). Both groups showed significant reductions in tear size according to its intensity on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (p = 0.002 in the control group and p = 0.001 in the microfracture group), with a notably better meniscus healing rate (35.7%) in the microfracture group compared to the control group.

CONCLUSION

This initial study highlights substantial effectiveness between meniscus repair augmented with microfracture and enhanced healing compared to repair without microfracture. Functional scores were notably higher, and MRI signal intensity decreased to grade 1 in a significant portion of patients in the microfracture group.