Indications for Surgery
- Athletes with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus tears who regularly perform sports that require pivoting, cutting, and jumping and landing
- Patients with recurrent giving way or knee instability, despite an adequate rehabilitation program
- Pain in the knee as well as mechanical symptoms including locking, catching, intermittent sharp pains, and sometimes even giving way
- Patients with an ACL tear and a repairable meniscus or articular cartilage tear
- Patients with an AL tear combined with other ligament injuries in the same knee
- Young patients who are physically active regardless of whether they have open growth plates
- Patients with failed previous ACL reconstructions
Tears of the meniscus are not uncommon when an individual sustains an ACL injury. The meniscus has a limited blood supply, can tear in complex patterns, and cannot always be repaired. Sometimes, meniscus tears require an arthroscopic partial meniscectomy surgery to remove the torn and damaged portion of the meniscus. Often, meniscal tears that occur with an ACL injury tear in a simple vertical pattern and can be repaired. Successful healing of a meniscus repair is significantly higher when it is repaired in the same setting as anterior…