Knee cartilage repair surgery: treatment & recovery time

A meniscus tear is a typical injury to the cartilage that supports and cushions the knee joint. The type of the tear camera.gif can determine whether your tear can be repaired. Radial tears sometimes can be repaired, depending on where they lie. Horizontal, flap, long-standing, and degenerative tears-those dued to years of wear and tear-generally can not be repaired.

Knee cartilage / Meniscus Repair

Your doctor will likely recommend the treatment that she or he believes will work best for you based on the zone where the tear is camera.gif, the pattern of the tear, and how big it is. Your age, your health, and your activity level may also influence your treatment options. In many cases, the specialist makes the final decision during surgery, when she or he can see the how strong the meniscus is, where the tear is, and how huge the tear is.

• If you have a little tear at the external edge of the meniscus (in exactly what medical professionals call the red zone), you may want to attempt house treatment. These tears frequently recover with rest.
• If you have a moderate to huge tear at the outer edge of the meniscus (red zone), you might wish to consider surgery. These kinds of tears have the tendency to recover well after surgery.
• If you have a tear that spreads from the red zone into the inner two-thirds of the meniscus (called the white zone), your choice is harder. Surgery to fix these sort of splits may not work.
• If you have a tear in the white zone of the meniscus, repair service surgery normally isn’t done, due to the fact that the meniscus might not heal. However partial meniscectomy may be done if torn pieces of meniscus are triggering pain and swelling.

Knee cartilage repair surgery: main procedures

Surgical repair service may be done by open surgery, in which a small incision is made and the knee is opened up so that the cosmetic surgeon can see inside the knee and the meniscus can be repaired. Significantly, specialists make use of arthroscopic surgery to fix the meniscus. The surgeon inserts a thin tube (arthroscope) consisting of a camera and a light through small cuts near the knee and has the ability to see inside the knee without making a huge cut. Surgical instruments can be placed through other small incisions. The surgeon repair works the meniscus making use of stitches (stitches) or anchors.

Other knee injuries-most frequently to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-might occur at the same time as a torn meniscus. In these cases, the treatment strategy is modified. Normally, your orthopedist will fix your torn meniscus, if required, at the same time ACL surgery is done. In this case, the ACL rehabilitation plan is followed.

What To Expect After Surgery

Your specialist may recommend that you do stagnate your knee more than absolutely necessary (immobilization) for 2 weeks after surgery. This might be followed by 2 weeks of limited movement prior to you are able to resume daily activities. Physical therapy must begin right after surgery. But heavy stresses, such as running and squats, should be held off for some months. You have to follow your doctor’s rehab (rehabilitation) prepare for optimal recovery. Afterwards, you may still continue to have pain and need more physical therapy or, sometimes, additional surgery.

The schedule for going back to strolling, driving, and more energetic activities will depend upon your success in rehab.

Why It Is Done

How your doctor treats a meniscus tear camera.gif depends upon the size and place of the tear, your age, your health and activity level, and when the injury happened. Treatment options consist of nonsurgical treatment with rest, ice, compression, elevation, and physical treatment; surgical repair service; surgical removal of the torn section (partial meniscectomy); and surgical elimination of the entire meniscus (total meniscectomy). In general, knee cartilage repair work is favored over partial or overall meniscectomy. If the meniscus can be repaired effectively, saving the injured meniscus by doing a meniscal repair-rather than partial or total removal-reduces the event of knee-joint degeneration.

Small tears found at the outer edge of the meniscus frequently recover by themselves. Bigger tears situated toward the center of the meniscus might not heal well, because blood supply to that area is poor. In a young adult, surgery to fix the tear might be the first choice, since it might recover function.

Knee cartilage repair service surgery recovery time

When Will your Knee Feel Better? Recovery time for your knee depends on how severe your meniscus tear is. Complete recovery from surgery might take about a month. However bear in mind that people also recover at different rates.

How Well It Works

Surgical repair work may result in less discomfort and a return to regular knee function. Likewise, you may have the ability to prevent long-term complications (such as osteoarthritis) with successful medical repair service of your tear. The success rate of repair in the red zone is 85 %.

Successful repair service of meniscus tears depends to a large degree on where the tear is located. Tears at the external edge of the meniscus (the red zone) have the tendency to heal well. Blood supply to splits that extend into the center of the meniscus (white zone) is doubtful, and medical repair of a tear in this zone might not heal well.

Knee cartilage surgery complications

Risks of the surgery itself are unusual however may consist of:.

• Infection.
• Damage to nerves or capillary around the knee.
• Embolism in the leg.
• Threats due to anesthesia.

What To Think About.

If surgical meniscus repair service is indicated, the treatment must be done as soon as possible after the injury. However if the tear is in the red zone and you opt to avoid a surgery to see if the meniscus tear heals on its own, a later repair service may still heal the meniscus appropriately.

You might have the ability to prevent long-term complications such as osteoarthritis with successful surgical repair work of your tear. Although no long-lasting studies have shown this, effective meniscus repair service might save meniscal cartilage and reduce the tension placed on the knee joint, consequently lowering the danger of osteoarthritis.