Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Meniscus Tear

There are two menisci in your knee; each rests between the thigh bone (femur) and shin bone (tibia). The menisci are made of tough cartilage and conform to the surfaces of the bones upon which they rest. One meniscus is on the inside of your knee; this is the medial meniscus. The other meniscus rests on the outside of your knee, the lateral meniscus.

These meniscus functions to distribute your body weight across the knee joint. Without the meniscus present, the weight of your body would be unevenly applied to the bones in your legs (the femur and tibia). This uneven weight distribution would cause excessive forces in specific areas of bone leading to early arthritis of knee joint. Therefore, the function of the meniscus is critical to the health of your knee.

The meniscus is C-shaped and has a wedged profile. The wedged profile helps maintain the stability of the joint by keeping the rounded femur surface from sliding off the flat tibial surface. The meniscus is nourished by small blood vessels, but the meniscus also has a large area in the center of that has no direct blood supply (avascular). This presents a problem when there is an injury to the meniscus as the avascular areas tend not to heal. Without the essential nutrients supplied by blood vessels, healing cannot take place.

How does the meniscus work?
The knee joint is very important in allowing people to go about performing almost any activity. The joint is made up of three bones: the femur (thigh bone), the tibia (shin bone), and the patella (knee cap). The surfaces of these bones within the joint are covered with a layer of cartilage. This important surface allows the bones to smoothly glide against each other without causing damage to the bone. The meniscus sits between the cartilage surfaces of the bone to distribute weight and to improve the stability of the joint

A meniscectomy is a surgical procedure that is performed to remove a torn meniscus from the knee joint. A meniscectomy may be recommended if the torn meniscus is causing symptoms of discomfort. The meniscectomy is an arthroscopic procedure, performed through small incisions with the aid of a small camera inserted into the joint.

How is arthroscopic surgery performed?
Arthroscopic surgery is a procedure that is used to look inside a joint. Through one small incision (about 1 centimeter) a small camera, about the size of a pencil, is inserted into the joint. Using one or more other small incisions, your surgeon places other instruments inside the knee to remove the torn cartilage.

3 comments:

cliffy said...

i like the new blog picture. just look at all that foliage!

Bob said...

I think I see one duck in the pond.

Aarone said...

Last year my son was also suffered meniscal tears and contacted the local Orthopedic specialists in Seatle, Now he has fully recovered. thanks to the orthopedic specialists of Seatle