If any of the following apply to you, you may be a suitable candidate for meniscal transplant surgery: You are under the age of 55. You’re missing more than half of your meniscus, or you have a big, irreversible meniscus tear. You experience considerable or persistent activity-related pain, or your knee is unstable.
How long does a meniscus transplant last?
Our European colleagues, who are able to monitor patients in socialized health systems for longer periods of time, are the best judges of long-term effects of meniscus transplants. Most meniscus transplants appear to last 12 to 15 years, with some lasting longer. As a result, current expectations are that the transplants will halt the onset of arthritis for a decade or longer, but patients may require a second meniscus transplant if the first one wears out a rip and their cartilage is still in good shape.
Is meniscus transplant painful?
A meniscus transplant takes less time to recuperate from than traditional (open) surgery because it is a minimally invasive treatment. A meniscus transplant can enable persons who are younger and more physically active resume to their activities without pain. It may also aid in the prevention of osteoarthritis as a result of a torn meniscus.
What are the risks or complications of meniscus replacement?
A meniscus transplant has a low risk of complications. Bleeding and infection are two hazards that come with any surgery. Some patients have the following symptoms as a result of the procedure:
Are meniscus transplants successful?
The study on meniscal transplants hasn’t been flawless. In general, between 21% and 55% of transplants fail after ten years. Meniscal transplants performed on the outside (lateral) of the knee are more successful than those performed on the interior (medial) of the knee.
Meniscal transplants can be beneficial, however they are not appropriate for all patients. Meniscal transplant surgery can provide significant benefits for people who are carefully selected.
Can your body reject a meniscus transplant?
Following Surgery Anti-rejection drugs are not required because, unlike other tissue transplants, there is low danger of rejection with a meniscal graft. However, you will be given a prescription for painkillers. You will begin your recuperation and therapy once you have been cleared to return home.
Can you run after meniscus transplant?
“Doc, does jogging hurt my knee?” I’m frequently asked. No, that is not the case. Your knee is hurting as a result of the injury.
You can run indefinitely if your knees are in good shape. The knee will wear down faster than usual if you have a cartilage injury, a torn meniscus, or an unstable knee joint.
If you’re a runner or thinking about starting, the information and statistics below can help you safeguard your knees.
Depending on a variety of factors such as the smoothness of your gait, your running technique, and the terrain you run on, running exerts peak impact pressures on the knee of one to three times your body weight. As long as the running shoe is supple enough to allow compression of the arch tissues of the foot, heel striking raises peak forces while midfoot landing provides lower peak forces. When smooth running is compared to walking, the total amount of force that the knee sees is frequently less in smooth running than in walking, because you take fewer steps per mile when you run. So, yes, technique and surfaces do matter.
The thickness of articular cartilage in a typical knee ranges from 1.69 to 2.55 millimeters. The smooth-bearing surface of all joints is articular cartilage, which covers the ends of the bones. The slickness is approximately five to ten times that of ice sliding on ice. This smooth surface becomes rougher when you injure the articular cartilage or develop arthritis. The friction between the surfaces in the joint increases dramatically as the surface roughens. The higher friction causes the joint surfaces to wear down more slowly. Damaged surfaces can’t absorb and distribute the impact force from your foot hitting the ground as well as normal joint surfaces can during activities like jogging. As a result, increased peak forces on an injured knee cause injury.
The meniscus cartilages, which distribute forces and stabilize the knee, are also present in a normal knee. When the patella is torn or missing as a result of an injury or surgery, the impact forces are concentrated on a smaller area of the knee, causing faster wear.
Finally, ligaments stabilize the knee in a normal knee. Unstable knees cause meniscus tears, and the irregular motions of the unstable knee accelerate the wear patterns of the joint surfaces, similar to how a car out of alignment wears out its tires.
The claim that normal knees can run indefinitely is supported up by studies of massive creatures like African elephants weighing more than 13,000 pounds that can run extremely quickly and live for 60 years without joint arthritis.
In addition, we’ve discovered that by mending articular cartilage and replacing injured meniscus cartilage or ligaments with donor tissue, people can return to jogging even after an injury. After worrying they had reached the end of the road, several of our biologic joint replacement patients were able to run again, according to a long-term outcome study.
Nothing beats a good run. Running produces so many endorphins, pheromones, adrenaline, and testosterone that it is impossible to break the addiction to running and the happiness it brings. Running gives a health benefit that any healthcare program would envy in terms of cost and time analysis.
If your knees are in good shape, go for a run, but make sure you run efficiently with short strides, a midfoot landing, well-fitting running shoes, and soft surfaces. If your knees are injured, have them fixed or find running joy in another sport, but don’t miss out.
The original version of this article was published on September 14, 2014. Kevin R. Stone, MD updated and republished this article on August 9, 2020, with scientific and content revisions.
Can meniscus grow back after surgery?
If the tear is on the outside third of the meniscus, it may mend on its own or require surgery to fix. This is because this location has a lot of blood flow, and blood cells can help meniscus tissue renew or recover after surgery.
Is it better to repair or remove meniscus?
There isn’t much that can be done about it. Radial tears, for example, can occasionally be repaired, but it depends on where they are. Most horizontal, long-standing, and degenerative tears, however, cannot be repaired due to years of wear and strain. You may need to have part or all of your meniscus removed if you have these types of injuries.
- If your knee discomfort is unbearable or you are unable to do regular tasks, surgery may be necessary.
Can you have meniscus surgery twice?
Between the femur (thighbone) and the tibia (shinbone), the meniscus helps to support the knee joint and appropriately distribute stresses within it. A meniscus tear can occur during weight-bearing motions that aggressively spin the knee. This is prevalent among athletes. A torn meniscus can result in long-term pain and instability in the knee. Many meniscus injuries necessitate surgical therapy to replace the cartilage and restore knee joint stability and function. A revision meniscus repair may be required if a patient has had a surgical meniscus repair and still has pain and edema, or if the cartilage has re-tears. Dr. Matthew Provencher, an orthopedic knee surgeon in the Vail, Aspen, Colorado Springs, and Denver, Colorado areas, specializes in meniscus knee revision surgery in patients who require a second surgical procedure.
The lateral meniscus, which is on the outside of the knee, and the medial meniscus, which is on the inside, make up each knee joint. Both of these structures can be damaged by a quick twisting movement or by bending repeatedly. A torn meniscus can cause long-term knee pain and instability, necessitating meniscus surgery for many individuals. Infection, re-tear of the meniscus, a botched original repair, or a patient not following adequate rehabilitation protocols after the first surgery can all cause a meniscus surgery to fail.