When are you allowed to drive again How long will you be unable to work?
Also the incapacity to work depends on the occupational strain of the person concerned as well as on the severity of the injury. If the meniscus tear is sutured intraoperatively, a significantly longer healing time is required than in the case of a partial meniscus resection. After an arthroscopic procedure, a career break of at least 1-4 weeks should be observed.
Driving a car after a knee operation should only be started again after complete healing, because both muscle strength and reaction speed are reduced by the operation. There are also after-effects of anesthesia and the side effects of pain medication. Definitely, the patient should no longer be dependent on walking aids or splints before getting behind the wheel again.
It is also important to first do some exercises to regain muscle strength and reactivity before starting to drive. Dry exercises on the parked car can also be useful. From the insurance point of view, there is no clearly defined period of time after which one is allowed to drive a car again after a knee operation, but it is at the discretion of the insurance company to classify the driver of the car and his behaviour as grossly negligent in the event of an accident and thus not to guarantee coverage of costs.
Risks of meniscus surgery
If a meniscus tear is present, it should in most cases be treated by an early surgical intervention in order to minimize and if possible completely avoid late complications and long-term consequences for the patient. If the meniscus is torn, it often interferes with the knee joint space like a kind of foreign body and causes friction and irritation of the joint cartilage and joint surfaces. In the long run, this can lead to a reduction of the joint space and even to the symptoms of knee joint arthrosis.
It can also lead to unspecific knee joint swelling and inflammatory reactions. However, removal of a part of the meniscus also leads to an increased risk of wear and tear, since the stabilization and damping of the meniscus is reduced by a reduction of its surface area. Only in rare cases a conservative therapy of the meniscus tear is indicated.
The reasons include age, difficult follow-up treatment, lack of patient cooperation or intolerance to anesthesia. Then the symptoms should be treated as far as possible with increased muscle build-up and stabilization of the knee joint. Meniscus surgery can be performed as open surgery or by means of an athroscopic procedure.
In addition, athroscopic surgery can be performed as an outpatient or inpatient procedure. Above all, open surgery carries the risk of post-operative bleeding, bleeding into the knee and intra-operative or post-operative infection of the surgical site. This infection can spread to the entire knee joint and damage the cartilage.
An inflammation develops, which may need to be punctured to drain the pus or may require surgical and antibiotic treatment.There is also a low risk of vascular or nerve damage as well as cartilage, ligament or mucous membrane injuries during meniscus surgery. Postoperative immobilization of the leg can also lead to the formation of blood clots in the leg veins, so-called thromboses. If one of these thrombi detaches, mostly from the leg veins, there is a risk of pulmonary embolism.
However, this risk can be minimized by preventive anticoagulatory therapy. For this purpose, the patient is given injections or tablets that inhibit blood clotting. After every meniscus operation, there is a risk that the meniscus will tear again at the same or at a different location.
Even after the insertion of an artificial meniscus, a so-called meniscus implant, the meniscus can tear. It is also possible to replace a completely destroyed meniscus with a donor meniscus from an organ donor. This can lead to immunological rejection reactions, because the tissue is considered foreign to the body.
However, this type of meniscus surgery is performed very rarely. Long-term consequences of a defective meniscus are mainly pain, restricted or reduced functionality and movement as well as beginning arthrosis. In rare cases, however, these can persist even after surgical treatment.
Overall, the success rate of meniscus surgery with a good result is about 90%. However, the necessary cooperation of the patient, an intensive follow-up treatment and the acceptance of short-term and permanent restrictions, such as during sports, are important for this. As with any surgical procedure, meniscus surgery carries a risk of side effects and after-effects of anesthesia.
The procedure can be performed under regional anesthesia, where the patient is only anesthetized down the hip and is awake and responsive, or under general anesthesia under general anesthesia. After the operation, general anesthesia can cause post-operative nausea and vomiting, for example.
