Patients whose symptoms do not resolve with rest, anti-inflammatory agents and rehabilitation are candidates for arthroscopic surgery of the knee. Arthroscopic surgery is a procedure done in an operating room to look inside the knee. A fiberoptic device about the diameter of a pencil is used to look around the inside of the knee. Special instruments are also used to trim out the torn piece of cartilage or to remove a loose body. Patients usually go home the day of surgery, and recovery may be quite fast.
Some patients have a large tear in their meniscus and require a repair of meniscus.
Twenty to 30 years ago, large tears were frequently treated with removal of the meniscus. Today we know that removal of the meniscus leads to early onset of arthritis, and we try to avoid removing the meniscus, if possible. If needed, the arthroscope is used, along with specialized instruments, to put stitches into the meniscus. The recovery time from this procedure may be longer. In summary, most cartilage or meniscus tears will heal well with nonsurgical treatments.