Sports news world is busy with the news of the basketball player having a meniscus repair surgery. But what is meniscus?! Meniscus is a fibrocartilage that exists in the knee. Its roles are to absorb shocks and to make the knee joint more stable by deepening the concave part of the joint (tibia). There are 2 menisci in the knee; one located laterally and the other located medially. Medial meniscus is more commonly injured. Degenerative meniscus injury is common as people age. But it also happens in sports especially in sports that involve a lot of cutting, changing directions, and twisting such as soccer and basketball. It also happens with anterior cruciate ligament injury. Depending on where the injury is and how severe it is, it can be repaired. The center of meniscus does not have sufficient blood supply and does not heal well. The outside of it, on the other hand, is more vascularized and has more chance to heal. Meniscus repair seems to do better in younger athletes and in those who are having an ACL reconstructive surgery at the same time. Older knees have less chance of successful meniscus repair surgery. Athletes with meniscus tear may complain of dull aches and pain, sharp pain with motion, swelling, loss of motion, loss of function, joint line tenderness, etc. It may cause clicking sounds and it may feel like knee is locking up. The picture below is an arthroscopic view of torn meniscus. Whether a torn meniscus can be repaired depends on the location of the injury and the severity of it. Also, the age is a factor. If it is shaved off, it usually takes about 4 to 10 weeks to rehab. It is repaired it will take a lot longer. Rehabilitation of repaired meniscus usually involves non-weight bearing for 4-6 weeks and start partial weight-bearing and rehab may take as long as 4-6 months.
