KEYHOLE surgery for meniscal tear injuries are routine but often unnecessary according to a report in the British Medical Journal. For most people with the common knee injury – a result of damage to the rubbery discs that cushion the knee joint – a supervised exercise therapy should be considered as a treatment option, claimed the researchers from Denmark and Norway.
Meniscal tears are common in athletes, but surgery can be avoided, study finds
As part of the study, researchers tracked middle-aged people with degenerative meniscal tears, verified by MRI scan, and prescribed an exercise programme over 12 weeks (two to three sessions each week) for half of them and arthroscopic surgery followed by simple daily exercises to perform at home for the others.