Exercise Therapy Versus Arthroscopic Meniscectomy for Meniscal Tear in Middle Aged Patients

This paper was to determine if exercise therapy is superior to arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for knee function in middle aged patients with degenerative meniscal tears.

In the Western world, as many as 300 in 100 000 people undergo arthroscopic partial meniscectomy annually.1–3 In Denmark, the surgery rate doubled from 2000 to 2011,4 with three out of four patients aged more than 35 years.4 In these patients, most meniscal tears are degenerative and might be regarded as the first sign of osteoarthritis

the Conclusion…

the observed difference in treatment effect was minute after two years of follow-up. Exercise therapy showed positive effects over surgery in improving thigh muscle strength, at least in the short term. Our results should encourage clinicians and middle aged patients with degenerative meniscal tear and no definitive radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis to consider supervised exercise therapy as a treatment option.

http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/50/23/1473.full