It is widely known that there is a relationship between the amount of meniscal tissue resected and the appearance of degenerative changes in the knee as the years go by. Because of this, current techniques tend to be relatively conservative—if the tear allows for it—with the goal of repairing the damaged meniscal tissue or replacing the previously meniscectomised tissue.

In 2001, Equilae performed the first allogenic meniscal transplant. This technique aimed to reduce the symptoms of a patient who had been meniscectomised in the past (a condition that was called ‘post-meniscectomy syndrome’).

Since then, more than 200 meniscal transplants have been performed, with improvements continuously made over time.

In recent years, Equilae has incorporated capsulodesis into the lateral meniscal transplant technique, in order to avoid or reduce the extrusion of the transplanted meniscus. This is achieved by passing the sutures through the articular capsule and inserting them into two tunnels through the tibia.

Regarding this technique, we would like to share the article that we recently published in the journal Arthroscopy, which constitutes a level II study. It presents the results obtained after comparing the first series of meniscal transplants with bone plugs to the current series, in which the capsulodesis technique was incorporated into the replacement surgery.

You will find that in the group of patients who underwent capsulodesis, there was a lesser degree of meniscal extrusion, along with similar improvements in functionality and pain relief.

Capsulodesis is a reliable and replicable technique that does not require the use of implants.

We hope that you find it of interest.

You can access the full article here.

The technique in question can also be viewed at the following link.

---