Knee Pain and Tears in the Meniscus: J. Michael Bennett, MD, PA: Orthopaedic Surgeon

Call us at 281-633-8600. In this video, Dr. J. Michael Bennett talks about knee pain and meniscus tears. He’s a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and Sports Medicine Doctor serving patients in the Greater Houston area from his offices in Sugar Land, TX.

Doctor Bennett on Knee Pain and Meniscus Tears

This is a transcript of the video:

Today I want to talk to you about knee pain and meniscus tears. This here is a model of the knee joint, this is the knee cap, the patella, this is the femur and this is the tibia. The yellow portion is the bone, the blue portion is cartilage, and these white two rings – moon-shaped rings within the joint – are what’s called the meniscus.

These two rings help cushion the joints. Now occasionally you can have symptoms such as locking, instability and swelling, secondary to a tear of one of these disks. Particularly it is painful when you twist or turn, creating a flap within this disk to get caught within the joint. If there’s a tear in either of these disks, the medial meniscus or the lateral meniscus, depending on the type of tear will depend on the type of procedure performed.

If you are a young patient and have what’s called a peripheral tear, meaning a tear in the periphery of that disk, this area has a high propensity to heal because it is very vascularized and we can repair that with some sutures across that disk. If you have a tear on the inner one-third of this disk here, the blood supply to that area is very poor and oftentimes a repair will not hold. So what we do in that case is an arthroscopic procedure where we poke holes on either side of the knee cap here, here and here (shows it on the model), we put in a miniature camera and we smooth down that flap to where it doesn’t engage or catch anymore within that joint. The reason we do that is because over time these flaps are almost like walking around with a piece or rock or a pebble inside your shoe and they can actually wear down this good cartilage here, this blue cartilage (refers to the model), and cause arthritis or progress a worsening of an existing arthritis. So usually this is something that needs to be addressed if you are experiencing recurring symptoms that are not improving with conservative measures. Thank you.

If you’re experiencing knee pain or suspect that you have a tear in the meniscus of your knee, please call our office for an appointment. The number is 281-633-8600. Please send this information to your friends by using the social media buttons provided below.