Impact of time between meniscal injury and isolated meniscus repair on post-operative outcomes: A systematic review

Table 1 The methodological index for non-randomized studies

Quality assessment criteria	Eggli et al[11], 1995	Lucas et al[13], 2015	Hupperich et al[14], 2018	Hagmeijer et al[12], 2019	Moon et al[15], 2020
Clearly stated aim	2	2	2	2	2
Inclusion of consecutive patients	1	2	1	2	2
Prospective collection of data	0	0	2	0	2
Endpoints appropriate to the aim of the study	2	2	2	2	2
Unbiased assessment of study endpoint	0	0	0	0	2
Follow-up period appropriate to the aim of the study	2	2	2	2	2
Loss to follow up less than 5%	2	2	2	0	2
Prospective calculation of study size	0	0	0	0	2
Adequate control group	0	0	0	0	0
Contemporary groups	0	0	0	0	0
Baseline equivalence of groups	0	0	0	0	0
Adequate statistical analysis	1	1	1	1	2
Total score	10	11	12	9	18

Table 2 Study characteristics

Ref.	Type of study	Level of evidence	Type of surgery	Patient No.	Patient population
Eggli et al[11], 1995	Retrospective Cohort	3	Arthroscopic repair	52	Patients undergoing arthroscopic isolated meniscal repairs
Lucas et al[13], 2015	Retrospective Cohort	3	Arthroscopic repair	17	Pediatric patients undergoing arthroscopic meniscal repairs
Hupperich et al[14], 2018	Retrospective Cohort	2	Arthroscopic repair	38	Patients with an acute bucket handle tear undergoing arthroscopic meniscal repairs
Hagmeijer et al[12], 2019	Case Series	4	Arthroscopic repair	32	Pediatric patients undergoing arthroscopic meniscal repairs
Moon et al[15], 2020	Case-Control	3	Arthroscopic repair	63	Patients undergoing arthroscopic isolated meniscal repairs

Table 3 Study outcomes

Ref.	Mean time to surgery	Outcome measured	Mean postoperative follow up	Findings	Statistical analysis	P value
Eggli et al[11], 1995	≤ 8 weeks: Acute, > 8 weeks: Delayed	Failure rate	7.5 years	No significant difference in failure rate between patients that were operated on within or outside of 8 weeks after injury	χ² test	0.45
Lucas et al[13], 2015	5.3 months	Lysholm score	22.3 months (3.5-46 months)	No significant association between mean time to repair and clinical outcomes	Fisher's exact test	0.62
Hupperich et al[14], 2018	45.5 days	Lysholm score	44.4 months (15-96 months)	Surgery within the first week was associated with significant increase in Lysholm score	Unpaired t test	0.03a
Hagmeijer et al[12], 2019	50.7 days	Failure rate, Tegner score, and IKDC	17.6 years (13.1-25.9 years)	No significant difference in mean time to repair between failed and successful surgeries, IKDC score or Tegner score	Spearman correlation	0.86, 0.46, 0.65
Moon et al[15], 2020	18.1 weeks	Progression of MMER	≥ 2 years	Preoperative symptom duration is significantly correlated with change in MMER	Univariate	0.01a

^aStatistically significant findings.

IKDC: International Knee Documentation Committee; MMER: Medial meniscus extrusion ratio.

Table 4 Patient characteristics

Ref.	Average age (range) (years)	Male (%)	Meniscus tear type	Meniscus tear location	Laterality of tear
Eggli et al[11], 1995	29 (13-58)	85.2	X	X	Medial: 43, lateral: 9
Lucas et al[13], 2015	14 (9-18)	52.9	Longitudinal: 7, horizontal cleavage: 3, radial: 2, complex: 3, bucket handle: 4	Posterior: 12, middle: 6, anterior: 2	Medial: 10, lateral: 9
Hupperich et al[14], 2018	31.1 (14-58)	63.2	Bucket handle: 38	X	Medial: 24, lateral: 14
Hagmeijer et al[12], 2019	16.1 (9.9-18.7)	90.6	Bucket handle: 17, simple (longitudinal, horizontal cleavage, radial): 11, complex: 5	X	Medial: 17, lateral: 16
Moon et al[15], 2020	54.9	20.6	Medial meniscus root tear: 63	X	Medial: 63

X: Not reported.