Clinical significance of knee joint changes after meniscectomy.

The incidence of Fairbank's radiologic knee joint changes after unilateral meniscectomy was investigated in 180 patients. All patients who had a fracture, cartilage disorders, and/or ligamentous instability at the time of operation or suffered from identical lesions during the follow-up period were excluded. The degree of Fairbank's changes, squaring and sclerosis of the tibial and femoral chondylar articular surfaces, was compared with the postoperative results. The assessment of the results was based on the patient's history. An unsatisfactory postoperative result appeared to coincide more often with Fairbank's changes, but no relation could be demonstrated between the degree of Fairbank's changes and the postoperative result. Fairbank's changes were observed in 77 (42.8%) of the patients. No relation could be demonstrated between the length of the follow-up period and the degree of Fairbank's changes.