Effectiveness of rehabilitation for osteoarthritis of the knee associated with isolated meniscus injury: a scoping review protocol v1

Objective: The purpose of this scoping review is to examine whether there are differences in rehabilitation according to the degree of damage to the isolated medial and lateral meniscus and to determine whether it is of value to conduct a systematic review in the future. ⮚ Introduction: The prevalence of meniscus injuries in middle-aged and elderly people (>50 years) is 31%, and they occur more frequently in medial meniscus injuries than in lateral meniscus injuries (28%＞12%). The treatment of meniscus injuries consists of conservative therapy and surgery, and the benefit of combining surgery with rehabilitation has become clear. However, the effectiveness of rehabilitation alone, according to the degree of isolated meniscus injury, has not been clarified. ⮚ Eligibility criteria: The review will be a scoping review of the effectiveness of rehabilitation for osteoarthritis of the knee with unilateral or bilateral isolated meniscus injuries in patients over 40 years of age. Outcomes will be pain, function, and re-injury. All types of research will be accepted without restrictions as to location, race, gender, or language of the original article. ⮚ Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science, and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) databases using the keywords "meniscus" and "physical therapy" will be conducted during September 2021. In addition, we will not limit the language of the search, in order to include all studies. Data extraction tools will be used to specifically show findings in extracted articles related to participants, concepts, context, research design, and review questions. Outcomes should be pain, function, and re-injury, and results should be specified for each outcome.

A quality analysis of the YouTube video content on meniscus repair surgery

Objectives: The Internet, especially YouTube, is an important and growing source of medical information. The content of this information is poorly evaluated. The objective of this study was to analyze the quality of YouTube video content on meniscus repair. The hypothesis was that this source of information is not relevant for patients. Methods: A YouTube search was carried out using the keywords "meniscus repair". Videos had to have had more than 10,000 views to be included. The videos were analyzed by two evaluators. Various features of the videos were recorded (number of views, date of publication, "likes", "don’t likes", number of comments, source, type of content and the origin of the video). The quality of the video content was analyzed by two validated information system scores: the JAMA benchmark score (0 to 4) and the Modified DISCERN score (0 to 5). A specific meniscus repair score (MRSS scored out of 22) was developed for this study, in the same way that a specific score has been developed for other similar studies (anterior cruciate ligament, spine, etc.). Results: Forty-four (44) videos were included in the study. The average number of views per video was 180,100 (± 222,000) for a total number of views of 7,924,095. The majority of the videos were from North America (90.9%). In most cases, the source (uploader) that published the video was a doctor (59.1%). A manufacturer, an institution and a non-medical source were the other sources. The content actually contained information on meniscus repair in only 50% of the cases. The mean scores for the JAMA benchmark, MD score and MRSS were 1.6/4± 0.75, 1.2/5 ± 1.02 and 4.5/22 (± 4.01) respectively. No correlation was found between the number of views and the quality of the videos. The quality of videos from medical sources was not superior to those from other sources. Conclusion: The content of YouTube videos on meniscus repair is of very low quality. Physicians should inform patients and, more importantly, contribute to the improvement of these contents.

Readability of Online Sources Regarding Meniscal Tears

Meniscal injuries are extremely common, with an incidence of 8.3 per 1,000 person/years in young, active individuals. Patients often turn to the internet to glean information about their injuries, and even to guide decision making about treatment. Much research has been done demonstrating that a reading level of eighth grade or lower is appropriate for accurately communicating written information to patients, yet medical practitioners often fail to meet this requirement. To better examine the information patients receive about meniscal injuries, we set out to evaluate the reading level and content of three commonly used search terms on the three search engines with the largest market share. The authors examined the keywords “meniscus tear,” “meniscus tear treatment,” and “knee pain meniscus” on the three highest market share search engines. The top 10 results from each search were included, and redundancies identified. Unique Web sites were evaluated for source, word count, reading level, and content including advertisements, diagrams, photographs, nonoperative and operative options, and accurate medical information. A total of 23 unique Web sites were identified in our search, including 13 public education sources, 6 academic institutions, and 4 private physicians/groups. Average grade levels of articles ranged from 9.4 to 14.2 (mean, 11.14; standard deviation [SD] 1.46), and Flesch–Kincaid reading ease scores ranged from 23.9 to 68.7 (mean, 55.31; SD, 10.11). Pages from public sources required the highest level of readability (11.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.8–13.2), which was significantly higher than private (11.0, 95% CI: 9.3, 12.7]) and academic (10.9, 95% CI: 8.9–12.9), p = 0.007 and p = 0.002, respectively. Further efforts to make appropriate health information available to patients are needed.

Ultrasound assessment of the meniscus complex formation in health children and with the 1st stage of longitudinal platypodia ones

Objectives: Foot arch reduces the exposure of weight and buf load due to its bufer function. in longitudinal platypodia foot looses this function and articular menisci have to take the role of the bufers (shock absorbers). Materials and Methods: Ultrasound assessment of meniscus thickness was performed on the joint space level. Results: varus type (43.4%) of the meniscus complex adaptation was dominant in 5-7 years old patients with the 1st stage longitudinal platypodia; symmetric type (51.9%) – in 8-12 years old patients; valgus type (56%) – in 13-17 years old ones. Healthy children showed the valgus type in all age periods. Conclusions: in our opinion the dominance of the varus type of the meniscus complex in 5-7 aged children and its further conversion into the valgus type in case of the 1st stage longitudinal platypodia refects the reduction of the lower extremities transformation processes from the varus into the most functional convenient valgus position at the age of 13-17. Keywords: meniscus, children, ultrasound investigation.