Meniscus Repair Overview
The torn meniscus represents a mechanical block to normal joint motion. If the meniscus is torn in the peripheral thirty percent, the blood supply is adequate to permit healing if the tear is repaired in a stable fashion. If the tear is in the inner zone, with less blood supply, the likelihood of a repair healing is diminished, but not eliminated. Newer techniques to provide stable repairs and increased nutrition to this tissue have provided a high rate of healing. Due to the supreme importance of the meniscus in knee joint function as described above, every effort to repair torn menisci is now made at the time of arthroscopic surgery. If repair is not possible, replacement of the meniscus is also possible using an allograft donor meniscus. If you require surgical intervention, a rehabilitation and conditioning program is commenced on the day after surgery.

Meniscus tissue is a crucial shock absorber and stabilizer for the knee joint. The tissue is a fibrous collagen material that unfortunately can be torn in the joint, usually by pivoting, twisting, and flexing or concurrent with a ligament injury such as an ACL rupture. At The Stone Clinic, we are extremely biased towards trying to save the meniscus cartilage. Therefore, Dr. Stone has developed meniscus repair, reconstruction, and replacement techniques over the past twenty-five years. His repair techniques focus specifically on bringing new blood supply into damaged tissue so a larger area of the meniscus cartilage can be repaired than previously thought. Often, meniscus tears can be treated with a resection of unstable components and combined with repair of the remaining stable components, even in older people. The repair techniques most frequently involve suturing from inside out and often include the addition of growth factors, stem cells, and clot materials in order to augment the healing. The indication for meniscus repair is often a tear of the meniscus cartilage involving a significant portion of the meniscus tissue. 

Meniscus Repair Rehabilitation