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.