Knopix News

Vail doc talks about how to fix a torn meniscus

A torn meniscus is a common knee injury. In younger people, the meniscus is fairly tough and rubbery. An isolated meniscus tear in a young patient is uncommon. However, young people not uncommonly tear their meniscus in conjunction with ACL tears as a result of a forceful twisting injury. I also see meniscus tears in young patients who may have torn their ACL and then have not had their ACL surgically reconstructed. Without an ACL, there is much more shear force in the knee and the meniscus is slowly overloaded and weakened by these forces and then tears. The meniscus becomes more prone to tear as we age and as it loses some of its elasticity. Skiing the bumps for decades can take a toll on the meniscus or “shock absorber.” It is therefore not uncommon for me to see someone in their late 40s or early 50s with isolated meniscus tears. These commonly occur as the result of a fairly simple mechanism (i.e. rotating on their knee while playing tennis). Patients can either tear their medial (inside of the knee) or lateral (outside of the knee) meniscus. Medial meniscus tears are much more common than lateral meniscus tears. Patients typically experience pain directly over the torn meniscus, as well as popping or catching. Squatting usually increases the pain. There is often minimal swelling present. A torn meniscus may not cause any pain when walking, but then can cause sharp, sudden pain with knee rotation. Unlike bone or muscle, meniscus tissue has very poor blood supply. As such, it has a poor healing potential. Most patients tear along the thin, inner rim of the meniscus where there is no blood supply. These tears cannot be repaired. Instead, in order to alleviate the pain, patients often come to arthroscopy where a telescope like instrument is placed in the knee and the small torn portion of the meniscus is removed while preserving as much of the healthy, functioning portion of the meniscus as possible.

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