Use of the fascia sheath coverage and exogenous fibrin clot in the treatment of complex meniscal tears.

In a previous series, complex meniscal tears, including double flap, double longitudinal, and radial tears, there was reported a high failure rate (14 of 58 repairs, 24%) when treated by conventional arthroscopic repair techniques. There was only one tear in the anterior middle one-third of the lateral meniscus in this group. The use of a fascia sheath to cover the repaired area improves healing rates an additional 17% (from 75% to 92%) with these tear classifications, with the exception of radial split tears in the middle one-third of the lateral meniscus. The present repair technique includes rasp abrasion of the parameniscal synovium, peripheral white rim, and tear surface of the handle fragment. The meniscus is sutured with fully diverged sutures. A rectangle of fascia from the distal anterolateral thigh, trimmed to 25 x 35 to 40 mm, is prepared with the double-armed meniscus suture run along opposite sides. One or two "hold-down" sutures are tied to the superior and inferior main sutures. The four hold-down sutures from the corners and the previously placed hold-down sutures are pulled through the capsule with previously placed pull-through sutures to pull the fascia over the meniscal repair. The exogenous blood clot is injected in the tear under the sheath. This preliminary report suggests that improved healing rates can be obtained with most complex tears by meticulous meniscal repair followed by coverage with the fascia sheath and then exogenous clot injection. Repairs of tears in the middle one-third of the lateral meniscus still show a high failure rate.