Continuous suture all-inside meniscal repair technique produces excellent functional outcomes and return to play rates with a low rate of failure.

BACKGROUND: The all-inside technique is now the most established treatment for meniscal repair, this usually involves a suture-based repair utilising interrupted sutures. A similar technique using continuous sutures can also be used; however there are no studies in the literature appraising this technique. This study aims to review outcomes for patients undergoing meniscal repair using a continuous suture all-inside technique.

METHODS: We reviewed patients undergoing meniscal repair using a continuous suture all-inside technique over a 5 year period. We recorded demographic details, injury type, surgical procedure, incidence of reoperation, functional outcomes (Tegner-Lysholm and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score) return to sport and failure of repair.

RESULTS: Data were collected for 37 patients. Mean age was 25.8 years, 81%, were male, median time to theatre was 169 days, mean follow-up time was 2.9 years. Concurrent ACL ruptures were present in 57%, all underwent ACL reconstruction in the same sitting. The mean Tegner-Lysholm score was 89. Mean IKDC score was 90.2. 78% were able to return to sport. Overall failure rate was 10.81%. Increasing age was associated with a decreased IKDC score (p = 0.02). Tegner-Lysholm score was significantly greater in patients with concurrent ACL injuries (p = 0.03) and patients with lateral meniscal tears (p = 0.04).

CONCLUSION: In the first study to review outcomes following continuous all-inside suture-based meniscal repair we demonstrate excellent clinical outcomes with IKDC, Tegner-Lysholm, return to play and failure rates comparable to other commonly used techniques. We conclude that this is an acceptable and cost-effective technique.