PURPOSE: The type of sport practiced may influence the presence and topography of meniscal injuries associated with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. Identifying sport-specific meniscal injury patterns could help refine prevention strategies and optimise intraoperative management. The purpose of this study was to assess the association between sport type and the occurrence and distribution of meniscal injuries in patients undergoing primary ACL reconstruction. METHODS: This retrospective epidemiological study included all patients who underwent primary ACL reconstruction at the Bordeaux-Mérignac Sports Clinic between January 2018 and September 2024. Collected data included age, sex, body mass index (BMI), sport practiced at the time of injury and intraoperative meniscal findings (medial and/or lateral meniscus). Sports were categorized as pivot-contact, pivot noncontact and nonpivot. Comparative analyses were performed across sport categories and patient characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 4571 patients were included, and 2980 (65.2%) presented an associated meniscal lesion. The prevalence of meniscal injury differed across sport categories (p < 0.001), with rates of 66.4% in pivot-contact sports, 63.0% in pivot noncontact sports and 62.0% in nonpivot sports. Across sport categories, isolated medial meniscus lesions were more frequent than isolated lateral meniscus lesions, while the distribution of meniscal status differed between sport groups. Meniscal injury patterns were also associated with patient factors, with significant differences according to age ≥ 30 years, male sex and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m². Football and rugby showed similar overall meniscal injury prevalence (68.2% vs. 68.5%), but the distribution of meniscal status differed between the two sports (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Meniscal injury prevalence and distribution in the setting of ACL rupture were associated with the type of sport practiced and with patient characteristics. These findings may support tailored surgical awareness and sport-specific prevention strategies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.
Marzouki et al. (Tue,) studied this question.