CORRELATION OF TIBIAL MENISCUS WITH TIBIAL PLATEAU AND ITS CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: A CADAVERIC STUDY

Background: The condyles of femur and tibia are not having the perfect congruent articular surfaces to adapt each other. To overcome this incongruity there exist tibial menisci over the tibial plateau. Loss of tibial menisci would result in devastating effect on the normal functioning of knee joint. Meniscal allograft or synthetic implants are the alternatives suggested to restore the contact pressure following the meniscectomy operations. Size of menisci required for this allograft or synthetic implant procedures following meniscectomy can be determined. Present study done emphasizes on calculation of meniscal dimension by measuring the tibial plateau dimensions, using various analytical procedures and deriving the relevant formulae. Study Design: In the present study different parameters of tibial meniscus were measured after exposure of knee joint. These measurements were done with digital Vernier calliper and a measuring scale. Results: Mean MML, MMW, MMC were 42.28±3.71mm, 31.67±3.40mm, 101.46± 6.89mm. Mean LML, LMW, LMC were 32.73±3.08mm, 33.22±3.37mm, 97.61± 7.32mm respectively. Some of the linear equations derived from the study are as follows. y = 0.71*x + 9.01mm, here y=medial meniscal length and x= length of medial tibial plateau; y = 0.48*x + 16.55mm here y=medial meniscal width and x= width of medial tibial plateau; y = 0.84*x + 5.61mm here y= Lateral meniscal width and x= lateral tibial plateau width etc. Conclusion: It can be easily judged that a graft which is too small in the size to fit the desired knee joint can be trapped beneath the condyles of femur. This might result in early damage to it due to disproportionate pressure acting on small meniscus. Whereas a large meniscus to a knee joint which is loose in fitting could also turn out to be ineffective due to disproportionate pressure distribution. Present Anthropometric study provides quantitative formulae to determine the meniscal dimensions, which may help to design artificial meniscus prostheses.