Dynamic contact mechanics of the medial meniscus as a function of radial tear, repair, and partial meniscectomy

Bedi A, Kelly NH, Baad M, Fox AJ, Brophy RH, Warren RF, Maher SA · The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American Volume

Peak tibial contact pressure in the intact knees was 6 +/- 0.5 MPa at 14% and 7.4 +/- 0.6 MPa at 45% of the gait cycle, and neither the size nor the site of the peak changed for radial tears up to 60% of rim width. A 90% tear shifted the peak posterocentrally, raising pressure in that quadrant by 1.3 +/- 0.5 MPa; mattress repair did not restore the intact pressure location, and partial meniscectomy added a further 1.4 +/- 0.7 MPa.

Population

Human cadaver knees in a simulator applying multidirectional dynamic gait loads, with a pressure sensor under the medial meniscus

Intervention

Intact meniscus, then radial tears of 30%, 60% and 90% of rim width, then inside-out mattress repair, then partial meniscectomy

Limitations

Cadaver gait simulation. The finding that a large radial tear is not mechanically equivalent to a meniscectomy is the useful one, and it is a bench result rather than a clinical outcome. Full text was not retrievable.