re: Don’t say that I didn’t tell you..(more information on the injury)

From “Acadiana”. Started as a registered nurse. Went back to school. Went to LSU medical school in Nola. won’t specify anymore but I enjoy internal/endocrine disorders...also sports medicine. I’ll leave it at that. Have had a lot of experience with sports as a player and physician. And congrats with almost finishing. If I had to do it over again I would have been a PA or NP blahhh.

So the belief is that a “repair” is more efficient in the long run. Relate this to a labrum. Imagine a Bankart tear of the labrum. What’s more efficient in the long run? Trimming a labrum and removing the dead cartilage or anchoring/suturing it back to the glenoid cavity? You risk suffering from subluxations but can return to physical activity much faster. However, frequent subluxations can cause a hill sach deformity which when repetitive, can kill the bone (shoulder replacement) or cause osteoarthritis.

It’s similar. A repair will anchor the meniscus back in place. Typically it’s done for a full meniscus tear when you have other underlying injuries such as a MCL or LCL tear. It gives extra stability but takes much longer to heal.

There was no reason for a total because of the fact that only a small portion of his lateral was torn off. Doctors who chose a partial do so to
get patients back to temporary activity quicker. This would be someone like Steph curry in second round of playoffs who wants to come back for the final series..

A partial is the most common. It’s a simple trim. Just like a dead leaf on a plant. Once cartilage is torn, it’s dead. It barely or almost never has any blood supply. This can cause pain and irritation (think a hangnail). So they do a partial to trim this portion of. In the long run it increases chances of arthritis. But by the time he would develop this, his knees would have been under so much wear in tear it would be likely he wouldn’t have much of a meniscus left on either knee. This is the perfect procedure for him. Trim it now so we don’t have to worry later. It wasn’t torn enough for complete removal or for a repair. The damage was done, it couldn’t be anchored.

Also medial tears are more “serious” bc majority of impact usually occurs through medial movement. In this case, sometimes a repair is better. For a lateral tear, it’s most often a partial.

Does this help at all?