Summary

This presentation seeks to report the outcomes of routine arthroscopic meniscectomy in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football players.

Abstract

Purpose

To report the outcomes of routine arthroscopic meniscectomy in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football players.

Methods

NCAA Division I football players at a single institution who underwent arthroscopic meniscectomy with or without chondroplasty over 5 years were included. Players who had incomplete data, previous knee surgery, ligamentous injury and/or microfractures were excluded. Variables collected for each player included: player position, age, timing of surgery (in season versus off-season), intra-operative findings, procedures performed, RTP time, and number of games played in the season the player returned to football activity. Player positions were grouped as non-skill positions (offensive and defensive line, tight end, punter) and skill positions (running back, wide receiver, defensive back, linebacker, quarterback) based on a previous analysis.13 RTP time was defined as the number of days that elapsed between an athlete’s surgery and the day that the athlete fully participated in football practice or game without any physical restrictions. Continuous variables were analyzed with Student’s t-tests or a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). A simple linear regression was performed to compare RTP time and number of games played in the season in which the player returned to football activities. Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05.

Results

Thirty-six athletes (38 knees) who underwent arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (31 lateral,7 medial) were analyzed. The mean athlete age was 20 ± 2.4 (range: 18-22) years. Half (19/38 players, 50%) of players were non-skill players and 50% (19/38 players) were skill players. The mean RTP time was 71±39 days. The mean RTP time in athletes who underwent in-season surgery was significantly shorter than the RTP in athletes who had off-season surgery (58±41 days vs. 85±33 days, p<0.05). The mean RTP in 29 athletes (31 knees) with lateral meniscectomy was similar to the 7 athletes (7 knees) who had medial meniscectomy (70±36 vs. 77±56, p=0.6803). The mean RTP time was similar between football players who underwent isolated lateral meniscectomy and those who had lateral meniscectomy with chondroplasty (61 ± 36 days vs. 75±41 days, p=0.32). Athletes played an average of 7.7 ± 4.9 games the season they returned; position category and anatomical compartment of the knee lesion had no bearing on number of games played (p=0.1864 and p=0.425).

Conclusions

NCAA Division 1 football players who underwent arthroscopic partial meniscectomy RTS at approximately 2.5 months postoperatively. Athletes who underwent off-season lateral meniscectomy surgery had longer RTP time compared to those who underwent surgery in-season. We found no difference in the RTP rate following arthroscopic partial meniscectomy between skill-position players (linebacker, running back, defensive back, wide receiver, quarterback) and non-skill position players (defensive lineman, offensive lineman, tight end, punter) who competed in the NCAA Division I category (mean RTP of 73 days vs. 70 days, p=0.82). RTP time and performance after surgery did not differ based on anatomical location of the lesions, or chondroplasty at the time of meniscectomy.
Level of evidence: Level IV, retrospective case series