Meniscus Repair

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The meniscus functions as the shock absorbers and stabilizers in the knee by forming two wedges of cartilage between the three bones in the knee. Meniscus tears are one of the most common sports-related knee injuries. While most people have heard of them, they don’t know exactly what they are or how they’re treated.
Meniscus tears can occur medially or laterally (inside or outside) in the red zone, white zone, or in both. There are four types of tears:
A longitudinal tear occurs in the red zone along the outer rim.
A bucket handle tear is a vertical tear that can occur in either zone. This type of tear resembles a “bucket handle” and can flip, or fold, backward to disturb the integrity of the knee joint. This can sometimes be appreciated by “clicking” or “locking” of the knee when bending.
A transverse tear is a tear extending across both zones.
An anterior or posterior horn tear refers to a tear of the end of the meniscus.

Treating Meniscus Tears

As previously mentioned, the zone that the tear occurs in plays an important role in treatment.
Non-surgical treatment options are generally used for white zone tears and include:
-Rest, Activity modification, Physical therapy, Bracing
Significant tears, or those extending across both zones usually require arthroscopic surgery in the form of a:
The part of the meniscus that is torn is removed.
Torn part of the meniscus can be repaired arthroscopically if it is in red zone , which is to be decided intra operatively by the surgeon.