• Marta Sabater-Martos, Clara Chimeno-Pigrau, Eduard Tornero Dacasa, Sergi Sastre Solsona, Jaime Isern Kebschull, and Dragos Popescu.
• Knee Unit, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
• Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2023 Jun 1; 143 (6): 321332183213-3218.

IntroductionOur main objective was to evaluate clinically and radiologically and compare patients who had undergone partial meniscectomy alone, with those who had received a partial meniscectomy in which a polyurethane implant was placed, with a minimum follow-up of 5 years.MethodsWe performed a prospective cohort study. Patients were randomly distributed into Group A if they only received meniscectomy or Group B if they received meniscectomy plus a meniscal implant (Actifit®). We performed preoperative, postoperative, and 5-year-follow-up functional and radiological evaluations (magnetic resonance imaging).ResultsTwelve patients (40%) were treated with meniscal implants (Group B); 18 (60%) were treated with a conventional meniscectomy (Group A). Tegner, Lysholm and KOOS scores were evaluated prior to surgery and at 5-year follow-up. Only the Lysholm score showed a significant difference between groups, with a score increase between the preoperative evaluation and the 5-year follow-up evaluation (p = 0.013). Preoperative and postoperative MRIs were both available in 19 cases (63.3%). Long-term follow-up MRIs were performed in 11 cases of group B. No significant differences were found in functional outcomes or MRI findings (WORMS cartilage score increase p = 0.360). Although total reabsorptions of the collagen meniscus implant were not statistically significant in younger patients, a tendency towards a higher reabsorption process was seen in older patients (p = 0.015).ConclusionThe placement of a polyurethane implant after a wide meniscectomy is not accompanied by a chondroprotective effect over time. There is no functional difference between implant placement and isolated meniscectomy. There is a discrepancy between good clinical results and radiologic appearance of these implants and their underlying cartilage.Level Of EvidenceII, therapeutic study.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

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