Meniscus Tear and Cyst

I have beeen told that I have a tear in my meniscus along with a cyst. The problem is that the cyst is inside and growing out of the tear in the meniscus. I have been given three options of having it fixed. The first is the aspitation of the cyst, second is removal of the meniscus and the cyst or three, repair of the meniscus with aspiration or cutting of the cyst and the possiblity of the cyst coming back.  I guess I am just confused about all of the options because if they just aspirate the cyst, isn't that just putting a bandaide on the problem and not fixing it?

[Michael L Gross, MD]

If the cyst is simply aspirated, it will certainly recur.  The most reliable treatment is arthroscopy and either repair or removal of the damaged meniscus.  Usually it is difficult to determine whether the meniscus will be repairable even with an MRI.  That decision is best made at the time of surgery