Beverly Hills Meniscus Tear Surgery

The decision to undergo surgery to repair a meniscus tear usually depends on a series of factors. The most important consideration is the nature of the tear, as well as a patient’s overall health, fitness and activity levels before the injury occurred. Surgery to repair a torn meniscus requires that a patient undergo a post-surgical rehabilitation and exercise plan as well, and the progress made in rehab will determine how long it will take before a patient can resume their regular physical activities.

Beverly Hills Meniscus Tear Surgery

Meniscal tears have different degrees of severity, and orthopedic surgeons like Beverly Hills meniscus tear surgery expert Dr. Steven Meier of Meier Orthopedic Sports Medicine will evaluate the nature of the tear before deciding if surgery is the best option for the patient.

A small tear at the outer edge of the meniscus is considered the red zone, and will usually heal with time and rest. Moderate to large tears of the outer edge of the meniscus in the red zone can often respond well to surgery.

Some tears can spread from the outer edge of the meniscus into the inner two-thirds of the knee, known as the white zone. If this occurs, it becomes harder to predict how effective surgery will be to repair the tear. Sometimes a piece of the torn meniscus, or cartilage, will move into the joint space and cause increased pain and swelling, in which case an orthopedic surgeon may opt to perform what’s known as a partial meniscectomy to remove it.

As with the decision of whether surgery is the best option to repair the meniscus tear, surgeons have a few surgical options when dealing with meniscus tears, the most common and least-invasive being arthroscopic surgery, in which a few small incisions are made around the knee and the surgeon makes the repairs with an arthroscope.

Next, read more about arthroscopic meniscus repair.