The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 72, Issue 4 550-552, Copyright © 1990 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Symptoms and level of sports activity in patients awaiting arthroscopy for meniscal lesions of the knee
A Hede, S Hempel-Poulsen and JS Jensen
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Thirty-six patients who had symptoms suggestive of lesions of the meniscus
of the knee were put on a waiting list for arthroscopy. Patients who had a
locked knee, had had more than two episodes of locking, or had unrelieved
swelling were given preference on the waiting list and were not included in
the study. By the time of admission to the hospital for elective
arthroscopy, six to twenty-four months after being placed on the waiting
list, none of the thirty-six patients had worse symptoms: four had no
change in symptoms (although two of these had stopped or reduced their
sports activity), nine had no symptoms (but six of these no longer
participated in sports), and the remaining twenty-three had partial relief
of symptoms (but seventeen of the twenty-three no longer participated in
sports or had reduced their activity). Four patients remained unable to
work. Only two of the twenty-seven who had engaged in sports before they
had symptoms resumed their normal sports activity. By the time of admission
to the hospital, fourteen patients had decided not to go ahead with the
arthroscopy; eight of these had decided to give up sports indefinitely. Of
the twenty-two patients who had an arthroscopy, a meniscal abnormality was
found in twelve. In two of these, a healed meniscal lesion was found.