STONE ON THE GREAT MENISCUS DEBATE (Orthopedics This Week)
Clinical Research proves that a partial meniscus trim for a degenerative meniscus tear is unnecessary (Finnish Research article)
Kevin Stone M.D. responded to a request from OTW to comment on the recent sham knee surgery study out of Finland. Here is what he had to say:
“A recent comparative study compared sham knee surgery to a partial resection of the meniscus in 45- to 60-year-old people and noted no difference at one year. In other words, the study seems to suggest that people who just thought they had experienced arthroscopic knee surgery fared just as well as the people who really did have the surgery. If this is the case, patients may well be asking, is this particular procedure necessary?”
Sub Group Shortcomings
“The first thing to clarify is that the sub group of people who volunteered to take part in this study did not experience an injury that resulted in an acute meniscus tear. Their meniscus damage was the result of wear and tear over a period of time. Second and more importantly, the fact is that physical therapy alone helps all patients with knee injuries for some period of time. So it is not surprising to me...
