Lateral meniscus posterior root tear (LMPRT) is related to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture and can lead to knee instability. This study aimed to investigate the medium-term clinical efficacy and function prognosis of one-staged arthroscopic ACL reconstruction combined with LMPRT repair/reconstruction.

This is a retrospective cohort study. The research subjects were 45 patients with non-old ACL tears who underwent endoscopic reconstruction at the First People's Hospital of Nantong from June 2017 to June 2020. According to whether they had LMPRT or not, the patients were divided at a ratio of 1∶2 into either an LMPRT group (15 cases) or a control group (30 cases), with gender, age, and body mass index (BMI) matched. The preoperative diagnosis, arthroscopic operation video, and postoperative follow-up data of the two groups were reviewed and analyzed. The clinical indicators assessed included the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and Lysholm knee function scores.

The LMPRT group had a higher positive rate of Pivot test than the control group (73.33% vs 26.67%, P＜0.01). Compared to the control group, the Lysholm score of the LMPRT group was lower at 6 months after surgery (68.47±10.54 vs 74.93±8.11, P＜0.05), but there was no statistical significance in the Lysholm score between the two groups at 1 year after surgery (P＞0.05). There was no significant difference in IKDC scores between the two groups at 6 months and 1 year after surgery (P＞0.05).

One-staged ACL+LMPRT reconstruction/repair for non-old injury has good surgical safety, less complications, and good clinical efficacy and functional prognosis in the mid-postoperative period. It is recommended that LMPRT repair be performed before the ACL reconstruction in one-staged operation.