In 13 dogs’ knees, the lateral meniscus was replaced with a porous
polymer implant (6 and 7 for 6- and 24-month follow-up, respectively); in 7 knees
only a meniscectomy was performed. In 6 knees, no surgery was performed. After 6
A final remodeling of tissue into neomeniscus tissue could not take
place since the original structure of the polymer was still present after 24
months. The implant did not prevent cartilage degradation. Several factors are
discussed that may be responsible for this.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although clinical application of a polymer implant for the
replacement of the entire meniscus is not supported by this study, the authors
strongly believe in the concept, but further improvements in the implant and
surgical technique are needed before such an implant can be recommended for human
clinical use.
