Knee Arthroscopy

The meniscus is a half-moon shaped cartilage structure that sits on both the inner and outer aspects of your knee joint. It can tear as a result of significant trauma and tears more easily later in life with less significant trauma as it weakens in structure with the development of early degenerative changes. Such tears can result in reproducible pain along the line of your joint as well as mechanical type symptoms that result in catching, locking and painful giving way.

Under certain situations, the meniscal injuries will resolve and the pain will improve. However, if the pain remains symptomatic with associated mechanical issues, surgical intervention is often required to either resect the torn piece of meniscus or, if possible, to repair the damaged portion in the hope that it will heal.

On some occasions, the damage to the meniscus can result in a bucket handle tear in which case, the meniscus is displaced from its original position into the centre of the joint. The wealth of evidence over the past decade has identified that repair of these tears should be attempted if possible in order to preserve the joint in the long term, particularly on the lateral (outer) side.

If the meniscus is deemed repairable, then it is the requirement after the procedure to wear a brace in order to protect deep flexion and a further tear whilst the meniscus is given the best chance to heal.

In order for the procedure to proceed you will need to understand the risks, benefits and alternatives of the operation and information on the consent process can be found here.