Arthroscopic pullout repair of posterior root tear of the medial meniscus: the anterior approach using medial collateral ligament pie-crusting release.

Abstract

Posterior root tears of the medial meniscus are frequently encountered and should be repaired if possible to prevent osteoarthritis of the medial compartment. Various surgical techniques have been proposed to repair posterior root tears. The anterior arthroscopic approach can cause an iatrogenic chondral injury due to the narrow medial joint space. The posterior approaches might be technically unfamiliar to many surgeons because they require the establishment of a posteromedial or trans-septal portal. This paper describes the medial collateral ligament pie-crusting release technique for arthroscopic double transosseous pullout repair of posterior root tears of the medial meniscus through the anterior approach to provide the good visualization of the footprint and sufficient working space.