whats happens after arthroscopy knee surgery (meniscus tear) in a long run ?

Hello everybody,

After reviewing MRI results my doctor recommend arthroscopic knee surgery ( to fix meniscus tear). As far as I understand in my case doctor just cut / remove part of the meniscus to "fix" tears.

Do you know if any studies was done what was happens in a long run (more than 10 years) to knees with such surgically shortened meniscus ? I am not feeling good about removing part of the meniscus and looking to get your opinion on that.

Thank you in advance !

[Michael L Gross, MD]

In the day of open, complete meniscus removal, the incicence of post-traumatic arthritis was about 25% at 25 years after surgery. With arthroscopic, partial menisectomy, the incidence drops to close to 5%. That said, the icidence of problems down the road are not the rsult of the surgery, but of the injury itself. The part of the meniscus that is removed is no longer functional, and can cause more problems if it is left in than if it is removed. Most meniscus tears do not heal on their own, and are not improved with physical therapy.