The authors clinically assessed 19 patients (19 knees - 15 medial meniscus and 5 lateral meniscus) submitted to meniscus suture using 2 kinds of absorbable implants (polylactic acid) Arrow® and Clear fix®. The study is composed of 15 males and 4 females, ages ranging 16 - 44 years old (average = 26.8 years old). The mean follow-up time was 24 months, ranging from 18 to 32 months, at most. The surgical technique was constituted of a suture in one or both meniscus (1 case), through arthroscopy with Arrow® in 15 patients and Clear fix® in 4. From the 19 individuals, 6 were submitted to isolated meniscal suture, 11 combined to ACL reconstruction and 2 to ACL reconstruction with tibial valgusing osteotomy. The results were assessed according to physical examinations including the maneuvers of Appley and Mc Murray. Pre- and postoperative functional evaluation of the knee was performed using a modified Lysholm scale. All patients had negative meniscal maneuvers postoperatively. The average preoperative score according to Lysholm scale was 39.8 reaching 91.5 postoperatively. The authors conclude that the meniscus suture using absorbable implants has shown to be efficient so far, and that, technically, it is simpler than conventional suture.
Knee; Meniscus; Bioabsorbable implant; Polylactic acid
