The Effect of Arthroscopic Partial Medial Meniscectomy on Tibiofemoral Stability

Irreparable tears of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus are the most common meniscal injury and arthroscopic partial meniscectomy is the current standard of care (1–3). However, despite the excellent results of partial meniscectomy, there is still little known regarding the effects of the size of a resection on tibiofemoral stability, as measured by laxity and anterior-posterior (AP) position. Therefore in this study, we sought to determine this by conducting three successive partial meniscectomies of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus (PMM) and measuring the laxity and AP position of the medial femoral condyle over a series of loading conditions following each resection. It was hypothesized that more than a 50% resection would result in significant changes in laxity and AP position equivalent to a 100% removal of the PMM.