• BACKGROUND
    • Meniscal tears are common intra-articular knee injuries that cause pain, swelling, and impaired mobility. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) remains the diagnostic gold standard, interest is increasing in hematological and inflammatory indices as potential adjunctive biomarkers reflecting inflammatory activity.
  • PURPOSE
    • To examine the relationship between meniscal tears and systemic inflammatory markers, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil-to-platelet ratio (NPR), and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and to assess their diagnostic performance.
  • METHODS
    • A retrospective case-control study was conducted at Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, comprising 286 participants 143 patients with MRI-confirmed meniscal tears and 143 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Hematological indices were derived from complete blood counts. Between-group comparisons were performed using the Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests, correlations were evaluated by Spearman's analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves assessed discriminative ability.
  • RESULTS
    • Meniscal tear patients showed significantly lower MPV (p < 0.001) and NLR (p < 0.001), but higher NPR (p = 0.023) compared to controls. No significant difference was observed for SII (p = 0.740). Smoking was associated with higher MPV-to-lymphocyte ratio (p = 0.007). ROC analysis indicated weak discrimination for NPR (AUC = 0.578, p = 0.023) and poor performance for SII (AUC = 0.511).
  • CONCLUSION
    • Inflammatory indices, particularly NPR, may reflect systemic inflammatory changes related to meniscal tears. While their diagnostic utility alone is limited, they may serve as supportive tools alongside imaging in evaluating meniscal pathology.