An orthopedic physician may suspect a meniscal tear through the patient's history and clinical exam. A physician can often stress and manipulate the knee joint in a way that provokes the meniscal tear to snap or cause pain, which makes the diagnosis likely. MRI will be obtained to visualize the meniscus and assess its integrity. A good MRI scanner has a very high accuracy rate in determining if a tear is present. Arthroscopic surgery is the only way to treat the tear since there are currently no medications, braces, or physical therapy treatments that have been shown to promote healing in the avascular tears.
Arthroscopic surgery is performed on an outpatient basis.
The surgeon tries to leave as much normal meniscal cartilage as possible since this is an important shock-absorbing structure. Some meniscal tears can be repaired. The goal of the repair is to hold the meniscus together long enough to heal firmly. For this reason, weight bearing is not allowed on the joint for at least 3 weeks after surgery. Motion is encouraged, however, and some simple light-load toning muscle exercises are usually permitted.