Primary and secondary outcomes at 24-month follow-up for the subgroup of patients with mechanical symptoms at baseline. Values are means with 95% CIs and numbers (percentage)
| APM (n=32) | Placebo surgery (n=37) | Improvement from baseline | Between-Group Difference in Improvement from Baseline or P value | ||
| Primary outcomes | APM | Placebo surgery | |||
| WOMET score | 79.9 (72.4 to 87.5) | 86.4 (81.5 to 91.3) | 27.6 (18.0 to 37.1) | 37.4 (30.1 to 44.7) | −9.8 (−21.5 to 1.8) |
| Lysholm knee score | 81.8 (75.8 to 87.7) | 86.9 (82.8 to 91.0) | 28.3 (21.0 to 35.5) | 34.1 (28.8 to 39.4) | −5.9 (−14.6 to 2.8) |
| Pain after exercise | 2.6 (1.7 to 3.5) | 1.9 (1.2 to 2.6) | 3.3 (2.2 to 4.4) | 4.5 (3.7 to 5.3) | −1.2 (−2.5 to 0.2) |
| Secondary outcomes | |||||
| Satisfied patients | 25 (78.1) | 30 (81.1) | p=0.774 | ||
| Improved patients | 27 (84.4) | 33 (89.2) | p=0.723 | ||
| Treatment-group unblinding | 2 (6.3) | 1 (2.7) | p=0.593 | ||
| Returned to normal activities | 20 (64.5) | 29 (78.4) | p=0.279 | ||
| Mechanical symptoms | 11 (34.4) | 11 (29.7) | p=0.797 | ||
| At least one positive meniscal test | 14 (43.8) | 14 (37.8) | p=0.633 | ||
One patient missing return to activity in APM group (n=31). p Values for interaction (randomisation and mechanical symptoms) were 0.113, 0.268 and 0.097 for the change in WOMET score, Lysholm knee score and pain after exercise, respectively.
APM, arthroscopic partial meniscectomy; WOMET, Western Ontario Meniscal Evaluation Tool.