Editorial Commentary: Meniscal Allograft Transplantation Is Effective for Adolescents With Meniscal Insufficiency, Although Outcomes May Decline Over Time.

Abstract

Over the last several years, there has been a shift from arthroscopic partial meniscectomy to meniscal repair, especially in the younger patient. In case of a necessary partial meniscectomy, some patients have unremittent symptoms of pain and effusion corresponding to the postmeniscectomy syndrome. In these patients without large coronal malalignment, meniscal allograft transplantation is a valuable option to restore contact pressures, promote a chondroprotective microenvironment, and potentially delay secondary surgical interventions symptoms. In the adolescent population, meniscal allograft transplantation has been shown to effectively improve patient-reported outcomes with a low conversion to arthroplasty. However, these treatments are far from ideal, and prevention is certainly better than the cure: timely diagnosis of meniscus injuries, appropriate treatment with meniscus repair rather than partial meniscectomy, even in the complex tear patterns, and consideration of corrective osteotomy for milder cases of malalignment.