Polyurethane scaffolds deemed effective for treatment of irreparable partial meniscal defects

Verdonk P. Am J Sports Med. 2012. doi: 10.1177/0363546511433032

  • Orthopedics Today, May 2012

Two-year clinical and functional outcome data have demonstrated the success and safety of polyurethane scaffolds for the the treatment of irreparable partial meniscal defects.

In a prospective, single-arm, multicenter, proof-of-principle study, 52 patients who presented with partial meniscal defects received a polyurethane scaffold. The researchers analyzed safety outcomes using scaffold-related serious adverse events (SAEs) and the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) score to compare MRIs at 24 months with MRIs at baseline. They used Kaplan-Meier to calculate time to treatment failure distributions. Clinical outcome measures included visual analog scale (VAS), International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and the Lysholm score.

The researchers found significant improvements in all outcome measurements of pain and function, including VAS, IKDC, KOOS pain, symptoms, activities of daily living, sports and quality of life scores and Lysholm scores. Nine 9 patients (17.3%) failed treatment. Three patients had medial meniscal defects and six presented with lateral meniscal defects. Nine patients with SAEs needed reoperations. The ICRS grades improved in 92.5% of patients from baseline to 2 years.

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