Body mass index, previously considered a good predictor of whether a meniscal repair will fail, does not have an effect on knee repair surgery, according to a study published in The Journal of Knee Surgery.
Researchers examined 410 patients who underwent meniscal repair surgery from 2006 to 2012.
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The study shows there was no significant difference in the rate of meniscal repair failures in those with a normal BMI (less than 25) and those with an elevated BMI (25 or higher.)
However, around 99 percent of study subjects had BMIs below 35, so it is unclear whether obesity that is more severe contributes to meniscal repair failure.
"This tells us that surgeons should not consider weight as a factor when deciding if a patient is a good candidate for meniscal repair surgery," said David Flanigan, MD, lead author of the study and orthopedic surgeon at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.