Meniscal Injuries
Health insurance institutions estimate that around 30% of all sick leaves are caused by knee injuries and meniscus ruptures in the first place.
However, body-contact sports such as soccer or handball are not the only risk factors for acute meniscus ruptures. Non-athletes and older people are also subject to stress that can cause a rupture if the knee joint has been slightly injured and/or the meniscal tissue has lost its elasticity. Marked in- or out-knees can also lead to accelerated meniscus ageing/degeneration, just as can ligamental instabilities. According to the literature, the internal (or medial) meniscus is the one damaged in over 90% of all cases. This figure is confirmed by our own surgical statistics.
What can I do as your doctor?
The first step is to confirm the diagnosis in all cases where a meniscus injury is suspected (whatever its causes). Usually, the experienced medical specialist can diagnose a "meniscus rupture" simply by reconstructing how the accident happened, or judging from how the injury or disease originated and from the pain picture involved, after performing a thorough functional check. Whether the meniscus has been completely torn or not can then be clarified by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) a technique that, due to its precision and reliability, has established itself as an important element of meniscal diagnostics.
While in the past damaged menisci were extensively removed by open surgery thus contributing to accelerated joint wear , surgeons are more careful nowadays. Thanks to special instruments (probes) that are inserted into the joint by minimally invasive access (a procedure called arthroscopy), the amount of tissue removed is kept to an absolute minimum. Such partial resection of traumatised meniscal tissue is performed with special punches, scissors and power-driven knives. In favourable cases, it is possible to fix the torn meniscus in place again in its suspension by suturing (so-called meniscorrhaphy).
Promising approaches especially for professional and top athletes aimed at implanting entire menisci have been developed in the United States. These so-called "collagen meniscus implants (CMI)" 97% of which are purified collagen are implant
However, body-contact sports such as soccer or handball are not the only risk factors for acute meniscus ruptures. Non-athletes and older people are also subject to stress that can cause a rupture if the knee joint has been slightly injured and/or the meniscal tissue has lost its elasticity. Marked in- or out-knees can also lead to accelerated meniscus ageing/degeneration, just as can ligamental instabilities. According to the literature, the internal (or medial) meniscus is the one damaged in over 90% of all cases. This figure is confirmed by our own surgical statistics.
What can I do as your doctor?
The first step is to confirm the diagnosis in all cases where a meniscus injury is suspected (whatever its causes). Usually, the experienced medical specialist can diagnose a "meniscus rupture" simply by reconstructing how the accident happened, or judging from how the injury or disease originated and from the pain picture involved, after performing a thorough functional check. Whether the meniscus has been completely torn or not can then be clarified by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) a technique that, due to its precision and reliability, has established itself as an important element of meniscal diagnostics.
While in the past damaged menisci were extensively removed by open surgery thus contributing to accelerated joint wear , surgeons are more careful nowadays. Thanks to special instruments (probes) that are inserted into the joint by minimally invasive access (a procedure called arthroscopy), the amount of tissue removed is kept to an absolute minimum. Such partial resection of traumatised meniscal tissue is performed with special punches, scissors and power-driven knives. In favourable cases, it is possible to fix the torn meniscus in place again in its suspension by suturing (so-called meniscorrhaphy).
Promising approaches especially for professional and top athletes aimed at implanting entire menisci have been developed in the United States. These so-called "collagen meniscus implants (CMI)" 97% of which are purified collagen are implant