Torn meniscus surgery

[emk159]

HAD IT DONE BY DR.JOHN DIDN'T FIX MY PROBLEM,IN FACT IT IS WORST NOW THEN BEFORE. BEFORE I was in pain when walking now I am in pain all the time, my knee feels stiff and swollen.I wish I didn't have the surgery done.now I have to find another solution to my pain.New MRI shows things worst,another tear,and water on the knee,and cyst. think twice before you have surgery to fix a torn meniscus.

[kstew43]

I have the same problem, both knees..... and have heard the same issues about the surgery.

The MD did claim that if there was arthritis, it wouldn't fix... so I decided not to have the surgery. As far as your information, I am so glad.

Sorry for your discomfort though.....Maybe time will make a difference. Hope for the best......

[seashorecaroline]

So sorry to hear you are having such a hard time. I had a torn meniscus and I too have arthritis in my knee. I had the surgery done last July by Dr. Cook at Tri-County Orthopedics and have not had a problem since. I think it may depend on the doctor that does the surgery. I do hope you are feeling better soon.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I had it done back int he Boston area and I' fine now. I'd say, 90% anyway. Still acts up a little bit every once in a while.

[billethkid]

Results vary by individual most likely more than by who did the surgery....my opinion.
Before I had mine right knee done the surgeon was quite specific about what the repair would not fix. Arthritis and the age related deterioration and increasing pain. Also, the meniscus "repair" in many cases does not include meniscus replacement. So between the opportunity for some "repairs" to regress and the degeneration due to arthritis, there was a very high icidence of future knee replacement.

Another aspect that affects all the variables is the post operative therapy...whether done at all, how long and how religiously done, etc.

Finally there is the influence of activity....we all know the more you move the better you feel.....some however do not.

These all have to be taken into consideration before truly assigning a lbel of success or failure.

My torn meniscus interfered with my ability to be as active as I was used to living. My repair was done May of 2014. I did all the therapy recommended plus home continuation. It took a good 6 months to say I was approaching 80-90% normal activity. Now one year later 100% active life style.
I do have significant arthritic pain......it does not interfere with my ability....just hurts from time to time.

I will do what ever it takes to not become a candidate for knee replacement!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fraugoofy]

Best decision I ever made, having my meniscus repaired in 1994... knee is still great!

[MrGolf]

Had it done a couple of times. First time did nothing and pain / discomfort returned almost immediately and did not go away. Went back to same guy, trimmed more of the meniscus cleaned out some fragments which I believe we're left in from first surgery but can't prove that. Also have arthritis from a combination of hockey and golf related injuries which will not go away. Pleased to say second surgery went better than first although stairs and lateral turns still cause discomfort. I am staying away from any replacement discussions.

[starflyte1]

I have had both knee meniscus trimmed, both very successfully. However, I recently had a total knee replacement in right knee. That surgery is also successful.

[MSGirl]

Had mine repaired in MS before I came. I knew ahead of time I also had arthritis in that knee that could not be repaired. Excellent job. However, I also had physical therapy to get my knee back in shape. That's a must!!!!! Did mine at home.

[scottiee]

I am with you I too am sorry I had it done

[emk159]

thanks to all who left a post, changing my strategy,going for stem cell injections with REGENEXX in Bradenton,fl. Ill try this before i get a knee replacement,wish me luck.

[emk159]

of anyone who had stem cell injections done to their knee to fix problems?

[skeogh]

My husband just had it done with Dr. Isaac Mitchell. He is the best.

[blueash]

of anyone who had stem cell injections done to their knee to fix problems?

From Tehran

Patients and Methods:  Four patients with knee osteoarthritis were selected for the study. They were aged 55, 57, 65 and 54 years, and had moderate to severe knee OA. After their signed written consent, 30 mL of bone marrow were taken and cultured for MSC growth. After having enough MSCs in culture (4–5 weeks) and taking in consideration all safety measures, cells were injected in one knee of each patient.


Results:  The walking time for the pain to appear improved for three patients and remained unchanged for one. The number of stairs they could climb and the pain on visual analog scale improved for all of them. On physical examination, the improvement was mainly for crepitus. It was minor for the improvement of the range of motion.


Conclusion:  Results were encouraging, but not excellent.


and this

Methods: Twelve patients with chronic knee pain unresponsive to conservative treatments and radiologic evidence of osteoarthritis were treated with autologous expanded bone marrow MSCs by intra-articular injection (40×106 cells). Clinical outcomes were followed for 1 year and included evaluations of pain, disability, and quality of life. Articular cartilage quality was assessed by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging T2 mapping.

Results: Feasibility and safety were confirmed, and strong indications of clinical efficacy were identified. Patients exhibited rapid and progressive improvement of algofunctional indices that approached 65% to 78% by 1 year. This outcome compares favorably with the results of conventional treatments. Additionally, quantification of cartilage quality by T2 relaxation measurements demonstrated a highly significant decrease of poor cartilage areas (on average, 27%), with improvement of cartilage quality in 11 of the 12 patients.

Conclusions: MSC therapy may be a valid alternative treatment for chronic knee osteoarthritis. The intervention is simple, does not require hospitalization or surgery, provides pain relief, and significantly improves cartilage quality.

and this

http://www.arthroscopyjournal.org/article/S0749-8063(12)01884-1/abstract
and the only randomized comparison I found is

Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis With Allogeneic Bone Marrow... : Transplantation (http://journals.lww.com/transplantjournal/Abstract/onlinefirst/Treatment_of_Knee_Osteoarthritis_With_Allogeneic.9 7808.aspx)

where the stem cell group did better than a sham injected group. All of these are small numbers and this is not standard care. While I do not know, I would not expect that an insurance company would pay for this as it is still experimental. It seems that the reports are done using your own stem cells, which would require them to be harvested first.

[capecoralbill]

Take your time and interview many knee surgeons, trimming the meniscus may help, but a partial bone resurfacing is probably better, but again it all specific to the patients problem, and the Dr's skill,training and experience. Take your time interviewing Drs, personally I like younger Dr's. I had some old prima donna do mine and it took 6 months to heal, I always badmouth him now, he is in Snyder NY, outside of Buffalo, so youre not likely to get him. Go or a small incision, and minimal
cutting of muscles and tissues, if so less recovery time. Good luck.

[kcrazorbackfan]

Two repairs on left knee and three on right knee - that's what 30 years in Taekwondo and a career in Law Enforcement will get you. They both feel pretty good now that we're down here.

[CathyandSteveG]

8 years ago i had my knee cleaned up....i had 7 tears in the meniscus. Then i had 6 supartz shots. ...and cortisone shots. It absolutely made it worse....this past April 27th i had a full knee replacement.

My other knee needs cleaned up...I will die first...

[jblum315]

I went to an orthopedist in 1975 contemplating surgery fora torn minis us that was causing me severe pain. He said you walked in here, I would not consider surgery unless you dame in a wheelchair. I'm sure that surgical procedures have improved since then but I'm glad I didn't have surgery. For the occasional bout of pain a cortisone injection does the trick.

[Snowshoes]

I have heard people rave about Dr. Duke, an ortho in Ocala. Above replies are correct, you have to work your therapy. I had my surgery in philly @ Rothman Institute and worked my PT like crazy. You get out of it what you put into it. Been back 100% with no pain. Good luck! I'm heading north if I need more ortho surgery.

[Spinning3]

Dr. Rogers at The Orthopedic Institute in Ocala. Without out a doubt, the best in the area for knees.