[Original Article] A novel suture method for radial tears of the lateral meniscus-biomechanical analysis of the resultant force and tibiofemoral relationship

[ABSTRACT]【Objectives】Radial tears of the lateral meniscus are difficult to treat because the circumferential fibers that constitute the meniscal body are torn, and simple sutures intended to maintain both ends of the torn sites can easily slip and cut out. To overcome this, we developed a new suture construct to fix the radial tear in the meniscus. In this study, we examined the biomechanical properties of a new suture construct using a 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic system and a porcine knee.【Methods】Five intact fresh frozen porcine knees and a 6-DOF robotic system was used in this study. First, we investigated whether a radial tear of the lateral meniscus would reduce the resultant force. Second, we investigated whether meniscal sutures would improve the resultant force. We also investigated the differences in the tibial shift and rotation.【Results】The resultant force with a radial tear was significantly smaller than that with an intact meniscus, and the novel sutures and horizontal sutures improved the resultant force. The tibia shifted medially and posteriorly at 30° of knee flexion and medially at 45° of knee flexion with a radial tear below the 5 Nm valgus torque. Significant improvement was observed with the meniscus suture. Furthermore, the tibia rotated the valgus with a radial tear and improved with a meniscus suture under the 5 Nm valgus torque.【Conclusions】Our new suture method may provide new insights into treatment of radially torn lateral meniscus with a minimum number of sutures.