Background

Meniscal tear with or without concomitant chondral injuries is common indication for knee arthroscopy in American football players, with some rehabilitation protocols suggesting time return to play (RTP) as early as at 4 weeks postoperatively.
Purpose:To report the outcomes of arthroscopic meniscectomy in elite football players.
Study design:Case series
Methods:NCAA Division I football athletes who underwent arthroscopic meniscectomy at a single institution over a 5-year period were included. Players who had incomplete data, previous knee surgery, knee ligamentous injury and/or underwent knee arthroscopy to address symptomatic cartilage defect(s) were excluded. Data collected were player position (non-speed, speed), timing of surgery (in-season versus off-season), intra-operative findings and procedures performed, return to play (RTP) rate and time, and postoperative athletic performance. Continuous variables were analyzed using unpaired Student’s t-tests or a one-way analysis of variance. A simple linear regression was performed to estimate the relationship between RTP time and post-return athletic performance.
Results:Included were 39 football players who underwent 42 arthroscopic meniscectomies (42.9% in season) over the study period.The anatomic location of intra-articular knee lesions was lateral compartment (27/42;64.3%);multiple compartments (7/42;16.7%); patellofemoral compartment (4/42; 98.5%); medial compartment (4/42;9.5%).Concomitant chondral injury was observed in 60% (25/42) of the knees, and the majority underwent chondroplasty (24/25,96%). All players (100%) returned to football. The mean RTP time was 79.5 (range:19-194) days and the mean number of games played in the season the player returned to football was 7.9 (range:0-14 games). RTP time and post-operative performance did not differ based on player position (p = 0.36 and p=0.63, respectively) and anatomic compartment of the lesions (p = 0.17 and p=0.56, respectively). Timing of surgery relative to the season did not affect the RTP time (p=0.21). There was no correlation between RTP time and number of games played post-surgery (p= 0.19).

Conclusion

NCAA Division I football players who underwent arthroscopic meniscectomy successfully returned to the pre-injury level of competition, with athletes averaging almost 8 games played the season they returned. RTP time was approximately 2.5 months, which was longer than previously cited 4-6 weeks. Most players had lateral compartment defects; however, RPT time and player performance was similar in speed versus non-speed athletes, and the anatomical location of the lesions.