Abstract
Radial tears increase tibiofemoral contact pressure and disrupt the ability of the meniscus to withstand hoop stress, leading to earlier-onset osteoarthritis. Repair of radial tears is problematic because they have a lower healing rate and lack a single gold standard technique. However, when a radial tear is proximal to the root, there is an opportunity to convert it into a root tear. This is ideal because root tears fixed through a transtibial tunnel technique have improved clinical outcomes and reduced rates of osteoarthritis. This Technical Note and accompanying video describe a method for repairing a radial tear near the meniscus root by converting a radial tear to a root tear followed by a pull-out root repair through a transtibial tunnel. This method restores the meniscus root, allowing it to withstand hoop stress. Our technique uses a disposable root repair kit that includes a FlipCutter, a Knee Scorpion Suture Passer, a 4.75-mm SwiveLock anchor tap, a SutureLasso, a PassPort Cannula, 0 FiberLink sutures, and TigerLink sutures.