Acute tears: most acute meniscal tears that are the result of an injury are treated with keyhole surgery to repair the torn meniscus. It’s a complex procedure with a success rate of around 65% for a single tear and 80% where there are also ligament injuries. If it’s not possible to repair the tear, then you may be offered meniscal debridement to remove damaged fragments and preserve as much healthy tissue as possible so that the meniscus can still act as a shock-absorber
Degenerative tears: when these are caused by wear and tear, it is often not possible to repair the torn tissue. This type of injury doesn’t usually need surgery and, in most cases, the symptoms settle down over time. However, if your knee continues to catch and cause problems then surgery can be very successful. In a degenerative tear where the meniscal root tears away at the back, causing extreme pain, Adrian can carry out ‘root reconstruction surgery’ which, although it is complex, is highly successful
In some cases, you may also be offered Activated Mesenchymal Pericyte Plasma injections (AMPP) to help treat a tear.