Review: Knee surgery for cartilage tears

meniscusThe most common knee injury today is a torn meniscus, which is a rip in the cartilage that cushions the knee joint. There are two groups of people who commonly suffer this injury: athletes who twist their knees and older people who are more likely to have degenerative tears as cartilage becomes weaker with age.

The most common treatment for this a torn meniscus is minimally-invasive surgery to trim the damaged cartilage or sew together the tear. But a new systematic review finds this may not be the best treatment for older adults.

The review, published last month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, included seven randomized, controlled trials with a total of more than 800 patients. The average age of participants in the studies was 56.

Using statistical models to analyze all of the results, the researchers found that those with meniscus tears experienced some improvement in function over the short-term, but those gains were lost over time. Having surgery did not improve knee pain in the short- or long-term.

There are other treatment options that yield better results for middle- and older-aged patients, including weight loss and physical therapy, the review found. Of course, a medical doctor must consider each individual case. Factors like patient’s pain level and quality of life are important considerations.

But the take-home message for most older patients who tear their cartilage is clear: surgery is typically not the best option.

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