Pie-crusting technique in posterior horn injury of the medial meniscus and its impact on gait characteristics

Wang Xuming; Gao Xuli; Dong Minglin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-4237.2025.10.009

Abstract：Objective To explore the application of Pie-crusting technique in posterior horn injury of the medial meniscus and its impact on gait characteristics.Methods A total of 112 patients with posterior horn injury of the medial meniscus and admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from Jan.2022 to Dec.2023 were prospectively selected and randomly divided into observation and control groups according to the ran-dom number table method,with 56 cases in each group.Both groups underwent arthroscopic surgery,with the obser-vation group adopting the Pie-crusting technique for release and the control group conventional release.The operation and postoperative conditions,imaging evaluation results and complications of the two groups were statistically ana-lyzed,and the gait characteristics,as well as the knee joint functions by Lysholm score,Tegner score,etc.,before and 3 and 6 months after surgeries were compared.Results Compared with the controls,the observation group showed much shorter operation time(min,35.6±4.5 vs.39.7±4.5)and release operation time(min,1.1±0.2 vs.3.3±0.4)(both P<0.05);at postoperative 3 and 6 months,both groups showed significantly improved walking speed,step frequency and single leg support time than those before operation,but inter group comparisons revealed no significant difference(P>0.05),and the Lysholm and Tegner scores showed consistent results.At6 months af-ter surgery,there were no significant differences between the two groups(P>0.05)in terms of meniscus healing or Outbridge cartilage degeneration.However,the total incidence of complications was much lower in the observation group than in the control group(5.4%vs.19.6%,P<0.05).Conclusion Pie-crusting technique for the treat-ment of posterior horn injury of the medial meniscus can shorten the release operation time and the whole operation time,and reduce the incidence of complications,but shows comparable treatment efficiency with the conventional re-lease method.