Meniscus surgery no more?

[MuddyWaters]

Pt friend of mine sent me this link. Interesting, as I had a cowerker die from clot after meniscus surgery.

http://www.regenexx.com/should-i-have-meniscus-surgery/#

[colorado_rob]

Sorry for your loss with your cowOrker, MW, but I have to say: Meniscus surgery changed my life. I almost had to give up hiking (and running, climbing, etc) about 8 years ago, the pain from my right knee was just too much. An MRI showed a frayed meniscus that should easily be trimmed and repairable. It was! $100 co-pay, and about a week later of recovery and voila, ZERO knee pain (well, maybe a couple more weeks of post-surgery soreness, but I did a 50-mile Ultra 2.5 weeks after surgery).

Eight years later, still no right knee pain. It is insulting to have some quack online article "study" claim that Meniscus surgery amounts to a placebo. Hah! Nonsense. I just noticed the "article" was written in a snake-oil "joint supplement" ad/web site. Good luck with that!

The doc also told me: See you in a few years for that left knee! He may have been right... left knee pain growing year by year, I'll wait until it actually affects my lifestyle.

[Lyle]

I suffered an acute meniscus tear a couple of years ago. Went to doctor eventually after a bout of intense pain and swelling. By the time I got to the Orthopedist appointment the pain had subsided. His advice was just treat the flair-ups with rest, ice, elevation, and motrin. Did offer to do the surgery if I wanted it. I chose not to have it. As I was leaving the office, the surgeon told me I made the right choice, said if it were his knee, he wouldn't let any surgeon touch it at this point. He assured me IWas doing no further damage to the knee by avoiding surgery.

Interestingly, the MRI showed no sign of an ACL. Generally, I should be experiencing a very unstable knee, but I do not. Surgeon's theory is that I had a slow, chronic deterioration, and with the regular hiking I've done over the years, it was good exercise to strengthen the other ligaments enough to maintain knee stability.

Take-away? Each case is different and may require a different approach. I have had no further problems with my knee (knock on wood), and have hiked the JMT and CDT through Rocky Mtn National Park since injuring it.

[colorado_rob]

Here is a good article on Meniscus problems; on thing it talks about are the two main types of "tears", acute injury-derived tears and longer term degenerative ones (like I had).

http://www.howardluksmd.com/orthopedic-social-media/can-a-meniscus-tear-heal/

It is not obvious which varieties will heal and which ones will not. Some will, some will not. According to my sports-medicine doc, mine would not have.

[Spirit Walker]

My husband had two acute tears in his right knee, several years apart. In both cases, he couldn't walk without agony. After surgery he was hiking again in about a month. it was definitely worth it in his case. His other knee had long term wear and tear and he didn't have surgery until he got the knee replaced. Different situations required different solutions.