Non obstructive meniscal tear of the knee

What is a meniscus?

Meniscus is a fibrocartilaginous tissue(cartilage) present in several joints in the human body, its main function is to connect bones together.

Meniscus is C-shaped pieces of cartilage that act like a cushion, it’s basically a shock absorber.

Are present two menisci in each knee, they  disperse the weight of the body and reduce friction during movement.

Meniscal tears

Meniscal tears may occur as part of a degenerative process of the knee joint or they can be traumatic. It’s estimated that in up to 60% of people older than 50years old without knee pain.

This underline what the research is showing more and more, that imaging findings poorly correlate with patient symptoms.

Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy(APM) versus Physiotherapy

In a recent study has been compared the surgical treatment APM versus physiotherapy for Non obstructive meniscal tear of the knee. In the patient examined wasn’t present any locking, instability, severe osteoarthritis or BMI greater than 35BMI.

The physiotherapy treatment consisted of strengthening and coordination exercises  protracted for 8 weeks.

The results showed that both have a similar outcome in the knee function over two years, there were no differences in the progression of osteoarthritis and  both of them had a reduction in the pain even if more marked with APM.

Once more physiotherapy  shows to be a valuable alternative to surgical procedure.

Each patient and each case Logically need an accurate evaluation to decide the best path to follow.

References: Van de Graaf V. A. et al(2018),Effect of Early Surgery vs Physical Therapy on Knee Function Among Patients With Nonobstructive Meniscal Tears.

doi:10.1001/jama.2018.13308