The modern surgical techniques for orthopaedic surgery have continued to evolve over the past several years. What was major invasive surgery at one time requiring extended anesthesia and several days in the hospital to recuperate. This was followed by extensive rehab therapy. Meniscus in Crested Butte, CO is a source for exploring meniscus surgery.
The repair of a torn meniscus is a good example. Today, arthroscopic surgery is performed by inserting a small camera inside the knee joint. This will give the surgeon a view of what the meniscus looks like and the repair which can be made. Making small incisions, the surgeon can insert instruments into the knee to remove or repair the damaged structures of the knee. This process is called knee arthroscopy. There are 850,000 such procedures performed in the U. S. every year.
The time required for this surgery is about one hour on the operating table and nearly every patient goes home the same day. This is a tremendous savings in hospital costs and the patient is far more comfortable at home.
There are three grades of meniscus tears. There are three types of meniscus surgery. The first is the arthroscopic repair which is designed for large tears. The second type of surgery is the arthroscopic partial meniscectomy which is designed to remove a small piece of the torn meniscus. The third type is the arthroscopic total meniscectomy where the entire meniscus is removed because the tear is so large.
Meniscus tears are usually diagnosed by an MRI, but often the surgeon can diagnose the meniscus tear by an examination. The examination is not nearly as useful as an MRI is to the Meniscus in Crested Butte, CO.
Not all meniscal tears are repairable. The knee cartilage may have worn away over time leaving the surgeon no way to attach the sutures. In this case, the surgeon can remove the tron cartilage and repair other problems that they see in the knee. Scopesurgery.com can give you a good description of the surgery.
The surgeon will prescribe therapy and the patient should be back to a full schedule in a month. Of course, every patient is different but this is a good guideline. The recovery time can depend on how much work the surgeon had to do.
