Epidemiology of Meniscus Injuries in the Military Health System and Predictive Factors for Arthroscopic Surgery

J Knee Surg DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1744189Meniscus injuries occur at a higher rate in the military than the general population. Appropriate management and rehabilitation of meniscus injuries is important for maintaining readiness. The purpose of this study was to describe the health burden of meniscus injuries in the Military Health System (MHS) to identify the surgical intervention rate for meniscus injuries, and to determine which injury characteristics and demographic variables were associated with the likelihood of surgery after injury. The U.S. Department of Defense Management Analysis and Reporting Tool, a database of health care encounters by military personnel and dependents, was queried for encounters associated with a meniscal injury diagnosis between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2011. Meniscus injuries were categorized into (1) isolated medial, (2) isolated lateral, (3) combined medial and lateral, and (4) unspecified cohorts. Patients under 18 and over 51 years were excluded, as well as patients without records at least 1 year prior to diagnosis or 2 years after. Relevant surgical procedures were identified with the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for arthroscopic surgery of the knee, meniscus repair, meniscectomy, and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. There were 2,969 meniscus injuries meeting inclusion criteria during the study period. There were 1,547 (52.1%) isolated medial meniscus injuries, 530 (17.9%) isolated lateral meniscus in...
Source: Journal of Knee Surgery - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Tags: Special Focus Section Source Type: research