Arthroscopic meniscal repair with FasT-Fix suture device:a ifve-year follow-up report

ZHANG Jie-hong; FU Pei-liang; WU Yu-li; ZHU Yun-li; QIAN Qi-rong; WU Hai-shan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-252X.2015.04.005

Abstract：Objective To evaluate the 5-year clinical results of FasT-Fix suture device in arthroscopic meniscal repair.Methods Clinical results of 28 patients with 32 meniscal tears who underwent meniscal repair using the FasT-Fix device from August 2006 to October 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 20 males and 8 females, whose mean age was 26.2 years old ( range: 13-48 years ). The average period from injury to surgery was 6 months ( range: 0.5 to 24 months ). All the meniscal tears belonged to peripheral longitudinal tears. The lesions were in the red / red zone (n=10, 31.3% ) and red / white zone (n=22, 68.7% ). Twelve patients ( 44% ) received the treatment of meniscal repair combined with anterior cruciate ligament ( ACL ) reconstruction. Clinical healing of the meniscus was assessed by Barrett’s criteria and the improvement of knee function was evaluated by International Knee Documentation Committee ( IKDC ), Lysholm and Tegner scoring systems.Results The average follow-up period was 63.4 months ( range: 50-78 months ). The clinical healing rate was 84.4% ( 27 / 32 ). Healing failure occurred to 5 patients, who had symptoms at 3.5 years ( range: 2-5 years ) after the operation. The preoperative IKDC, Lysholm and Tegner scores were ( 43.4±16.8 ) points, ( 41.2±14.1 ) points and ( 3.1±1.4 ) points. The postoperative IKDC, Lysholm and Tegner scores were ( 80.7±15.7 ) points, ( 83.7±22.1 ) points and ( 6.2±1.6 ) points. The differences between the preoperative and postoperative IKDC, Lysholm and Tegner scores were statistically signiifcant (P<0.05 ). Conclusions Arthroscopic meniscal repair with the FasT-Fix suture device is safe and effective, with a high rate of meniscus healing and few complications during the 5-year follow-up.