Patients 40 Years of Age or Older Have Comparable Return to Sport Rates, Reinjury Rates, and 2-Year Patient-Reported Outcomes After Medial or Lateral Meniscus Repair Compared With Patients Younger Than 40 Years of Age.

PURPOSE: To compare patient-reported outcomes, return to sport (RTS), and reinjury rates after meniscus repair in patients over and under the age of 40 years old. METHODS: Meniscus repair cases performed at a single tertiary care center between December 2010 and August 2021 with a minimum 2-year follow-up data were reviewed. Patient-reported outcome measures, RTS, and reinjury data were obtained from an institutional knee registry and prospective surveys. Patients were classified as (1) <40 years old with isolated meniscus repair, (2) ≥40 years old with isolated meniscus repair, (3) <40 years old with meniscus repair and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and (4) ≥40 years old with meniscus repair and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. RESULTS: One hundred thirty patients were included, 91 were <40 years old and 39 were ≥40 years old (56% men). Of the tears, 66.2% (n = 86) were medial, 26.9% (n = 35) were lateral, and 6.9% (n = 9) were both medial and lateral. In patients with concomitant anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, there were no statistically significant differences in 2-year International Knee Documentation Committee scores (P = .58), RTS (P = .80), or meniscus repair failure rates (P > .99) between different age groups. In isolated meniscus repairs, there were no statistically significant differences in 2-year International Knee Documentation Committee scores (P = .72), RTS (P = .24), or meniscus repair failure rates (P = .54) between age groups. At 2-year follow-up, over 80% of patients in both age groups achieved the minimum clinically important difference across all patient-reported outcomes, with no significant differences in minimum clinically important difference achievement between patients younger than 40 years and those aged 40 years or older. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that patients 40 years or older who undergo meniscus repair experience similar 2-year patient-reported outcome measures, RTS, and failure rates compared with patients younger than 40. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, retrospective comparative study.