Tear Patterns in Traumatic and Atraumatic Meniscal Injuries of the Knee

외상과 비외상에 의한 슬관절 반월상 연골의 파열 형태

We reviewed the charts and photos taken during arthroscpy of 218 knees of 214 patients(240 menisci) retrospectively. The male was 156 cases(73%) and the female 58 cases(27%). The mean age of the patients was 35 years(range, 7-68). The patients who had definite trauma history were classified as trauma group(Group 1), and the patients who had no or could not recall trauma history were as atrauma group(Group 2). The trauma group was subclassified into the the patients with sports injury, traffic accident, fall down, slip down, direct injury, and miscellaneous according to the causes of the trauma. The patterns of meniscal tear were classified into longitudinal, bucket-handle, horizontal, transverse, flap, complex, and degenerative tear on the basis of O'Connor's classification. The aim of this study was to compare the meniscal tear patterns between trauma group(Group 1) and atrauma group(Group 2) and between the patients before and after the age of 40. The results were as follows ; 1) The difference in the incidence of tear between medial and lateral meniscus was not significant statistically. 2) In Group 1, 60% of the cases showed the longitudinal and bucket-handle tear and 52% of the cases of Group 2 were horizontal tear. 3) In the patients before the age of 40, the longitudinal and bucket-handle tear were 52% of the cases and in the patients over 40, tear patterns which were thought to be related to degenerative change, horizontal and degenerative tear were more than half of the cases (51%).