To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of arthroscopic rotator cuff suture and meniscus suture in the treatment of meniscus injury, and to analyze the effects of the two methods on surgical indication, postoperative recovery and joint function.

Sixty-five patients with meniscus injury from department of joint sports injuries of the Fifth People’s Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region were randomly divided into experimental group (rotator cuff suture total internal suture, n=34) and control group (meniscus suture, n=31). Operation time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay and pain relief time of the two groups were recorded. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Lysholm score were used to evaluate pain and knee function before and after surgery. The data were analyzed by independent t test and chi square test.

The intraoperative blood loss (t=9.968, P<0.001), length of hospital stay (t=8.481, P<0.001) and pain relief time (t=8.800, P<0.001) of the experimental group were significantly shorter than those of the control group. Preoperative VAS score (t=0.099) and Lysholm score (t=0.334) were not significantly different between the two groups (both P>0.05). Postoperative follow-up showed that the VAS scores of both groups continued to decrease, but the scores of the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group (one month t=7.097, three months t=7.316, six months t=4.827, 12 months t=3.805, all P<0.001). Lysholm scores in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group during the follow-up, and the differences were statistically significant (one month t=4.565, three months t=6.193, six months t=5.283, 12 months t=5.945, all P<0.001).

Compared with meniscus suture device, rotator cuff suture hook total internal suture technique has the advantages of less surgical trauma, faster recovery and more significant improvement of joint function, which is an efficient and cost-effective minimally invasive method for the treatment of meniscus injury.