Application of rotator cuff suture threader in horizontal tear of meniscus

LIU Zi-tao; LIU Qi-yu; JIANG Tao; SU Hai-tao

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-4237.2018.03.013

Abstract：Objective To study the availability of rotator cuff suture threader in horizontal tear of menis-cus.Methods Seventeen patients with horizontal injury of meniscus were treated in our hospital from Jun.2012 to Jun.2015,including 12 males and 5 females,with an average age of 26.7 years(range,18-45).All patients were combined with anterior cruciate ligament rupture and applied with spinal-epidural anesthesia to conduct arthroscopic surgery.The horizontal tear of meniscus was sutured using the rotator cuff suture threader,followed by rebuilding the anterior cruciate ligament.VAS and Lysholm score were used for evaluation of knee joint preoperatively and postop-eratively.Results Due to small joint space,1 case of medial body meniscus horizontal tear and 1 case of medial posterior meniscus horizontal tear were successfully sutured until release of medial collateral ligament.But the two patients suffered minor damage to the femur cartilage.One case of medial posterior meniscus horizontal tear was su-tured by another method because of small joint space even after release of medial collateral ligament.All cases were followed up at 1 month,3 months,6 months and 12 months after surgery.At the final follow-up,subjective symptoms and clinical examination were normal in 13 cases,3 patients had mild pain after activity,and 1 case had moderate pain with joint space tenderness.At the end of the follow-up,the VAS score was decreased to(1.2 ±0.4)points from(4.6 ±1.2)points,the Lysholm score was improved to(93.4 ±5.0)points from the preoperative(63.9 ± 8.7)points,and the efficacy was satisfactory.Conclusion Rotator cuff suture threader could be used to suture the horizontal tear of meniscus,especially the horizontal tearing of meniscus body.This method has advantages such as easy operation,few complications,low cost and high healing rate.