KNEE CARTILAGE INJURIES

What is it?

The meniscus is another name for the cartilage inside the knee - the shock absorber between the two leg bones. The most common injury to this cartilage is a tear. This does not mend because the cartilage does not have a blood supply and so cannot heal itself.

What causes it?

Tears to the cartilage are usually caused by twisting your knee violently, especially when your knee is bent at the same time.

Who gets it?

You are more prone to injuries to the cartilage if you bend or crouch a lot - for example if you work as an electrician or a plumber.

You are also more likely to damage the knee if you play sports such as football or rugby. Because men are much more likely to have these jobs or play these sports, injuries like these are generally much less common in women.

What are the symptoms?

Often cartilage injuries are very sudden and severe. You may get an awkward tackle at football or fall with your knee twisted. You will usually hear a tearing sound and get a sudden pain on one side of the knee. You may not be able to walk (you certainly will not be able to carry on playing) and your knee may be locked so that you can't straighten it. Your knee will swell up probably over the course of the day. Sometimes small tears are much less dramatic. You may just find that after a small knock or fall your knee sometimes swells up or locks or gives way under you.

It will usually be painful when you exercise.

When should I go to my GP?

Obviously if you collapse on the playing field you should see a doctor straight away - often it is easier to go to the hospital casualty department.

If you do not have a sudden injury but find that you are getting troublesome locking and pain in your knee you should make a routine appointment with your GP.

What tests will my Doctor want to do?

Your GP can sometimes get a good idea of the problem just by examining you. Certainly he may be able to reassure you that you have not torn your cartilage and that you do not need an operation. However, if torn cartilage is a possibility, the only way to find out for certain is by looking inside the knee and this means an operation.

What is the short-term treatment?

This depends on how bad your symptoms are. Your GP may advise you to strap the knee up and to rest completely to let things settle before he looks at it again. He may give you painkillers or anti-inflammatory tablets.

Will I need to go to hospital?

If your doctor thinks that you may have torn your cartilage he will refer you to the hospital. Again, how soon you will need to be seen depends on how bad your symptoms are. By far the best operation for cartilage tears is an arthroscopy. Under anaesthetic the surgeon puts a small telescope called an arthroscope into the knee joint. This lets him see the problem inside the joint. Also he will be able to cut out any torn pieces of cartilage causing the problem.

Will I need regular check-ups?

Once you have had the operation you will need one or two check-ups to make sure that everything has healed properly. Other than this you should only need to see your doctor again if you have further problems.