Zone-specific inside-out meniscal repair: technical limitations of repair of posterior horns of medial and lateral menisci.

Arthroscopy was performed on 15 cadaveric knees to assess the technical limitations of a zone-specific inside-out meniscal repair system (Linvatec Zone Specific II; Linvatec Corp, Largo, Fla) for accessing the posterior regions of the menisci. In addition, this system was compared with an all-inside technique (Bionx Arrows; Bionx Implants Inc, Blue Bell, Pa). Linvatec meniscal sutures and Bionx Arrows were placed arthroscopically in both medial and lateral menisci in all 15 cadaveric knees before open dissection was performed to evaluate device placement. Results showed that the Linvatec sutures may not adequately access a longitudinal 16.1-mm region of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus that is accessible with Bionx Arrows. In addition, the zone-specific inside-out technique excluded a statistically significantly larger region of the posterior horns of both menisci. With the Linvatec sutures, placement was difficult in the most posterior 14.9 mm of the medial meniscus and 10.8 mm of the lateral meniscus; with the Bionx Arrows, placement was difficult in only the most posterior 6.1 mm of the medial meniscus (P = .004) and 5.3 mm of the lateral meniscus (P < .006).