Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract Objective To explore if medical exercise therapy (MET) alone is comparable to arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) followed by MET for knee pain, activity level, and physical function in middle-aged patients with degenerative meniscal tear (DMT) by a systematic review and meta-analysis o...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jianxiong Ma, Hengting Chen, Aifeng Liu, Yuhong Cui, Xinlong Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2020-06-01
Series:Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13018-020-01741-3
_version_ 1828284084956168192
author Jianxiong Ma
Hengting Chen
Aifeng Liu
Yuhong Cui
Xinlong Ma
author_facet Jianxiong Ma
Hengting Chen
Aifeng Liu
Yuhong Cui
Xinlong Ma
author_sort Jianxiong Ma
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Objective To explore if medical exercise therapy (MET) alone is comparable to arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) followed by MET for knee pain, activity level, and physical function in middle-aged patients with degenerative meniscal tear (DMT) by a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Method A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science) was conducted to retrieve RCTs comparing MET+APM with MET alone for DMT. Risk of bias of the studies was evaluated. Outcomes assessed were pain relief, physical function, and activity level. Results A total of 6 RCTs containing 879 patients were included. After pooling the data of 5 researches, we found small significant differences support the APM + MET group for pain control assessed by Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) at 2 to 3 months (p = 0.004) and at 6 months (p = 0.04). And there were statistically improvements in APM + MET at 6 months compared with MET alone when changing measurement to visual analog scale (VAS) (p = 0.0003). Our analysis also found small significant differences favor the APM followed by MET group for physical function both at 2 to 3 months (p = 0.01, KOOS and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, WOMAC; and P = 0.40, Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale) and at 6 months (p = 0.01, KOOS and WOMAC). Conclusion We found favorable results of APM + MET up to 6 months for pain control and physical function. However, there were no differences at longer follow-up. The clinical applicability of APM + MET compared with MET should be interpreted carefully, and the potential of MET to treat DMT should be valued.
first_indexed 2024-04-13T08:55:46Z
format Article
id doaj.art-c7dd5962c5b6427d836cf5c65b68aabe
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1749-799X
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T08:55:46Z
publishDate 2020-06-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research
spelling doaj.art-c7dd5962c5b6427d836cf5c65b68aabe2022-12-22T02:53:18ZengBMCJournal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research1749-799X2020-06-0115111110.1186/s13018-020-01741-3Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trialsJianxiong Ma0Hengting Chen1Aifeng Liu2Yuhong Cui3Xinlong Ma4Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin UniversityBiomechanics Labs of Orthopedics Institute, Tianjin HospitalThe First Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese MedicineDepartment of Mechanics, Tianjin UniversityBiomechanics Labs of Orthopedics Institute, Tianjin HospitalAbstract Objective To explore if medical exercise therapy (MET) alone is comparable to arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) followed by MET for knee pain, activity level, and physical function in middle-aged patients with degenerative meniscal tear (DMT) by a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Method A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science) was conducted to retrieve RCTs comparing MET+APM with MET alone for DMT. Risk of bias of the studies was evaluated. Outcomes assessed were pain relief, physical function, and activity level. Results A total of 6 RCTs containing 879 patients were included. After pooling the data of 5 researches, we found small significant differences support the APM + MET group for pain control assessed by Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) at 2 to 3 months (p = 0.004) and at 6 months (p = 0.04). And there were statistically improvements in APM + MET at 6 months compared with MET alone when changing measurement to visual analog scale (VAS) (p = 0.0003). Our analysis also found small significant differences favor the APM followed by MET group for physical function both at 2 to 3 months (p = 0.01, KOOS and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, WOMAC; and P = 0.40, Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale) and at 6 months (p = 0.01, KOOS and WOMAC). Conclusion We found favorable results of APM + MET up to 6 months for pain control and physical function. However, there were no differences at longer follow-up. The clinical applicability of APM + MET compared with MET should be interpreted carefully, and the potential of MET to treat DMT should be valued.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13018-020-01741-3Arthroscopic partial meniscectomyMedical physical therapyDegenerative meniscal tearMeta-analysis
spellingShingle Jianxiong Ma
Hengting Chen
Aifeng Liu
Yuhong Cui
Xinlong Ma
Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research
Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy
Medical physical therapy
Degenerative meniscal tear
Meta-analysis
title Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
title_full Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
title_fullStr Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
title_full_unstemmed Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
title_short Medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
title_sort medical exercise therapy alone versus arthroscopic partial meniscectomy followed by medical exercise therapy for degenerative meniscal tear a systematic review and meta analysis of randomized controlled trials
topic Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy
Medical physical therapy
Degenerative meniscal tear
Meta-analysis
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13018-020-01741-3
work_keys_str_mv AT jianxiongma medicalexercisetherapyaloneversusarthroscopicpartialmeniscectomyfollowedbymedicalexercisetherapyfordegenerativemeniscaltearasystematicreviewandmetaanalysisofrandomizedcontrolledtrials
AT hengtingchen medicalexercisetherapyaloneversusarthroscopicpartialmeniscectomyfollowedbymedicalexercisetherapyfordegenerativemeniscaltearasystematicreviewandmetaanalysisofrandomizedcontrolledtrials
AT aifengliu medicalexercisetherapyaloneversusarthroscopicpartialmeniscectomyfollowedbymedicalexercisetherapyfordegenerativemeniscaltearasystematicreviewandmetaanalysisofrandomizedcontrolledtrials
AT yuhongcui medicalexercisetherapyaloneversusarthroscopicpartialmeniscectomyfollowedbymedicalexercisetherapyfordegenerativemeniscaltearasystematicreviewandmetaanalysisofrandomizedcontrolledtrials
AT xinlongma medicalexercisetherapyaloneversusarthroscopicpartialmeniscectomyfollowedbymedicalexercisetherapyfordegenerativemeniscaltearasystematicreviewandmetaanalysisofrandomizedcontrolledtrials