Therapy for meniscus rupture
Not every form of meniscus disease requires surgical treatment. For this reason, diagnostics in the context of meniscus diseases, including various diagnostic tests, plays a major role. The location of the meniscus tear is also of decisive importance with regard to the therapy.
If the lesion is located in the outer zone, for example, treatment may be conservative, for example in the form of splinting and decongestant medication, possibly in combination with punctures and injections. However, if the physician detects a massive rupture, or a so-called “basket handle” (= longitudinal meniscus tear), it is usually necessary to remove the torn part of the meniscus. Otherwise, the torn off part acts like a foreign body in the joint, which will also damage the cartilage in a special way and will cause the clinical picture of arthrosis at an early stage.
Tears in the area of the capsule border can be treated by menicoplexy if necessary. This menicoplexia can be imagined as “tacking” or “sewing on”. However, since the fibrous cartilage is only weakly supplied with blood and for this reason has only few metabolic reserves, damage to the meniscus can only rarely “heal”.
In the meantime, almost all operations in the area of the meniscus are performed arthroscopically. An arthroscopic meniscus operation is much gentler, helps to avoid consequential damage and to preserve as much meniscus tissue as possible while making maximum use of the surgical treatment. In addition, the duration of arthroscopic surgery on the knee is significantly shorter than open surgery on the knee.
However, the following basic principle applies: “A torn meniscus should be repaired as early as possible to prevent consequential damage. “In order to ensure long-term optimal care of the knee joint, a dynamic treadmill analysis is recommended. In addition to a series of conservative and surgical measures, which can be applied depending on the type of cartilage damage, certain bandages are available to reduce the symptoms of a torn meniscus.In general, however, bandages cannot heal the injury and only achieve limited improvement in symptoms.
Treatment by wearing a bandage alone cannot be recommended. However, this can be useful in the period leading up to the planned operation or as additional pain therapy. The function of the bandages, which can be worn in case of a torn meniscus, is to compress the knee joint.
This compression is intended to build up pressure in the joint capsule and thus relieve the meniscus. Depending on the injury and the type of meniscus tear, a bandage therefore works more or less well. If foreign bodies are present in the joint space, even an increase in pressure can only achieve limited success, whereas an increase in pressure with simultaneous arthrosis achieves good results in symptom control. Whether a bandage is appropriate in an individual case should be discussed with the treating physician.
