Loading...
Despite good evidence showing that arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) is not better than physical therapy (PT) for meniscal tears, APM continues to be performed often. Six previous randomized trials in patients with confirmed meniscal tears have not revealed any significant benefit of APM over PT or sham arthroscopy (e.g., NEJM JW Gen Med Aug 1 2015 and BMJ 2015; 350:2747). However, a metanalysis of five trials did show that some patients benefited from APM at 3 months, but this benefit did not persist at 1- to 2-year follow-up (NEJM JW Gen Med Jul 1 2017 and BMJ 2017; 357:1982).
In this study, investigators aimed to determine whether PT is noninferior to APM for improving self-reported knee function in patients with nonobstructing meni…