The effect of allograft meniscal replacement on intraarticular contact area and pressures in the human knee. A biomechanical study

Paletta GA Jr, Manning T, Snell E, Parker R, Bergfeld J · The American Journal of Sports Medicine

Total lateral meniscectomy cut total contact area by 45% to 50% and raised peak local contact pressure by 235% to 335%. Allograft replacement then raised contact area by 42% to 65% and cut peak pressures by 55% to 65% at every flexion angle, though pressures stayed significantly above the intact state. Releasing the anterior and posterior horn attachments returned contact area and pressure to the meniscectomised values exactly.

Population

Ten fresh-frozen young human cadaveric knees on a mechanical testing system, measured at 0, 30 and 60 degrees of flexion with pressure-sensitive film

Intervention

Sequential testing — intact, after total lateral meniscectomy, after a size-matched allograft fixed with bone plugs, and after release of the horn attachments

Limitations

Ten cadaver knees at time zero. It establishes that a transplanted meniscus can carry load only while its horns are anchored, which is a mechanical claim about fixation rather than evidence that transplantation protects a living joint. Full text was not retrievable.