Survivorship and clinical outcomes of 147 consecutive isolated or combined arthroscopic bone plug free meniscal allograft transplantation

Purpose: To present the results of a survival analysis of a series of 147 arthroscopic MAT procedures. Methods: One-hundred and forty-seven patients (117 males and 30 females) underwent arthroscopic MAT without bone plugs (82 medial MAT and 65 lateral MAT) using fresh-frozen, non-irradiated grafts. They were retrospectively reviewed at a mean of 4.0 ± 1.9-year follow-up. Mean age at surgery was 40.9 ± 11.2 (range 16.7–68.8) years; 70 patients (48 %) underwent combined procedures. Clinical evaluation was performed with KOOS, Lysholm and a 0–100 VAS for pain. Survival analysis was performed using two endpoints: surgical failure (revision procedure with direct relation to MAT) and clinical failure (revision procedure or poor Lysholm score, 50 or 25. Conclusions: MAT, eventually associated with other needed procedures, was able to significantly relieve pain and improve function of the knee joint at midterm follow-up, with a survival rate from 9.7 to 8.0 years based on failure criteria. Most additional procedures were done in the first 2 post-operative years. MAT eventually associated with other needed procedures could represent an effective treatment for post-meniscectomy syndrome. Level of evidence: Therapeutic study, retrospective case series, Level IV.