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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
A torn meniscus is an injury to one or more of the two C-shaped pieces of cartilage in each of your knee joints.
Any activity that causes you to forcefully twist or rotate your knee, especially when putting the pressure of your full weight on it, can lead to a torn meniscus. In older adults, degenerative changes of the knee may contribute to a torn meniscus.
Conservative treatment — such as rest, ice and medication — is sometimes enough to relieve the pain of a torn meniscus and give the injury time to heal on its own. In other cases, however, a torn meniscus requires surgical repair.
- Meniscal tear. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00358&return_link=0. Accessed Nov. 29, 2008.
- Anderson BC. Meniscal injury of the knee. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2008.
- Knee arthroscopy. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00299&return_link=0. Accessed Nov. 29, 2008
- Urquhart MW et al. Meniscal injuries in the adult. In: DeLee JC et al. DeLee and Drez's Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2003. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/114764765-3/786313327/1103/860.html#4-u1.0-B0-7216-8845-4..50030-2--subchapter5_3559. Accessed Dec. 10, 2008.
