Editorial Commentary: Is Standard Repair Enough for Posterior Medial Meniscus Root Tears? Early Promise of Meniscus Centralization.

Abstract

Posterior medial meniscal root tears and meniscal extrusion have come under increasing focus in recent years, with management that prevents or delays advancing degenerative changes in the medial compartment being the ultimate goal. Although meniscal root repair can restore meniscal function and slow degeneration, it does not eliminate osteoarthritis progression, with conversion to total knee arthroplasty reported as high as 33%. Augmenting posterior medial meniscal root repair with centralization techniques appears to reduce short-term postoperative extrusion and may mitigate early radiographic progression of osteoarthritis, in addition to its biomechanical superiority. It is certainly a worthy focal point of study, and an increasingly proven surgical technique to support the at-risk medial compartment.