Danish Rct on Exercise Versus Arthroscopic Meniscal Surgery for Young Adults

Summary

There are two cartilage structures in each knee joint called a meniscus. A torn meniscus can be caused by either a smaller or larger trauma or be a degenerative age-related tear. Arthroscopic meniscal surgery is the most common orthopedic procedure, but no high-quality studies have investigated the efficacy of meniscal surgery for younger patients (i.e. 40 years or younger) in comparison to non-surgical treatments.

The purpose of this study is to determine if a strategy of early arthroscopic meniscal surgery (repair or resection) is superior to a strategy of initial individualized supervised exercise therapy including patient education with the option of later surgery if needed in improving pain, function and quality of life in young patients (18-40 years) with meniscal tears.

The hypothesis is that patients treated with early arthroscopic meniscal surgery will improve more than patients treated with exercise and education.

Conditions

• Tear of Meniscus of Knee

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Arthroscopic meniscal repair or resection

Arthroscopic meniscal repair or resection following standard procedures.

BEHAVIORAL

Exercise and education

A 12-week (2 exercise sessions per week) supervised neuromuscular and strengthening exercise program tailored to 18-40 years old patients with a meniscal tear combined with patient education teaching the participants about their disease and how to manage it through exercise and in their daily life.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Aarhus University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre

  collaborator OTHER

• Aalborg University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Sygehus Lillebaelt

  collaborator OTHER

• Naestved Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Odense University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Slagelse Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Danish Council for Independent Research

  collaborator OTHER

• IMK Almene Fond

  collaborator OTHER

• Lundbeck Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• The Danish Rheumatism Association

  collaborator OTHER

• Spar Nord Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Association of Danish Physiotherapists

  collaborator OTHER

• Regionshospitalet Silkeborg

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Southern Denmark

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Søren T. Skou, PT, PhD · University of Southern Denmark and Næstved-Slagelse-Ringsted Hospitals

• Jonas B Thorlund, MSc, PhD · University of Southern Denmark

• Martin Lind, Prof, MD, PhD, DMSc · Aarhus University Hospital

• Per Hölmich, Prof, MD, DMSc · Copenhagen University Hospital, Amager-Hvidovre

• Hans P Jensen, MD · Aalborg University Hospital

• Carsten Jensen, MSc, PhD · Lillebælt Hospital in Kolding

• Muhammad Afzal, MD · Naestved Hospital

• Uffe Jørgensen, Prof, MD, DMSc · Odense University Hospital

• Mogens Strange Hansen, MD, PhD · Elective Surgery Centre, Regionshospitalet Silkeborg

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

40 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-01-31

Primary Completion

2021-02-28

Completion

2022-02-28

Countries

• Denmark

Study Locations