Damage to the meniscus of the knee joint: causes, symptoms, treatment

Symptoms, causes, treatment of damage to meniscus of the knee joint.

Content

Damage to the meniscus of the knee joint is a fairly common injury among athletes, as well as ordinary people. It is characterized by a complete separation or fragmentation of meniscus in the middle of the joint. In this article, we will talk about the symptoms of this ailment and how to treat it.

Damage to the meniscus of the knee joint: symptoms, causes

There are several meniscuses, one internal, one external. They are a thin cartilaginous laying, its thickness is 3-4 mm, and the length is 7-10 cm. This cartilage is located between the bones of the joint. That is, this is one of the components of the joint, helps to amortize and not rub the bones against each other. It acts as a kind of rubber, which prevents damage inside the joint.

Very often in this zone there are a variety of injuries, especially often you can find in people who are associated with contact sport. That is, players, hockey players, as well as tennis players. Most often, the gap or separation of the meniscus from the joint is observed with rotating loads, that is, when the foot is in a stationary state, and the body continues to move. Which very often happens when skiing or in tennis sports, when the surface of the stadium is not soft and rubber, and sneakers do not slip. As for the varieties of injuries, there may be several.

The meniscus can completely break away from the tendons and joints and swim inside the liquid, or partially. Often, after an injury, this meniscus is crushed into pieces, that is, severe compression occurs, because of this, cartilage is destroyed into small pieces. In this case, it will be necessary to perform an operation to eliminate fragments, because in the future they will become a source of constant inflammation and swelling of the knee.

Damage to meniscus of the knee joint: diagnosis, treatment

The main complexity of this disease is associated with diagnosis. The fact is that compulsory medical insurance includes only a few free diagnostic manipulations: radiography and ultrasound. But with the help of these studies, it is almost impossible to see damage to meniscus. In 95% of cases, the response to joint pain will give an MRI. If the meniscus has come off, then an operation is performed to sew it to the joint and restoration.

Only in rare cases, when a person of rather advanced age, the destruction of the joints is observed, these menisci are removed in order to prevent constant inflammation and swelling in the knee. In ordinary clinics, a traumatologist most often makes an X -ray in order to see if there is a fracture. If everything is in order, the patient is applied to the bandage and sent home. Accordingly, in this way, the separation or damage to meniscus is not treated at all.

Treatment methods:

If there is a very severe pain, the patient is forced to re -come to the traumatologist. After that, a langet can be superimposed for immobilizing the knee joint, and something cold is applied. Non -steroidal anti -inflammatory drugs are prescribed. However, in fact, this does not solve the problem, but only slows down its progression, dulls symptoms and inevitably leads to the destruction of the joint, as well as cartilage.
Diagnostics using MRI, as well as arthroscope, gives very good results. That is, this implies the introduction of the probe. In addition, using an arthroscope, you can also perform simple operations to extract small fragments of this meniscus, which will lead to an improvement in the patient's condition. But this operation is not used if there really are a lot of meniscus, they cannot be sewn. That is, it is fragmented. If it is damaged, there is a crack, then this meniscus and the restoration of mobility in the joint are usually performed.
Quite often, such a pathology is treated with conservative therapy, as indicated above. A langet is superimposed in the knee in order to immobilize the joint. Anti -inflammatory ointments are used. After the pain leaves, the tumor in the knee area also decreases, resort to the use of physiotherapy in order to strengthen the knee with the help of muscles, make this area less mobile.
If the tumor in the knee does not pass for a long time, then a large amount of blood can be observed inside the bag. This is due to the fact that the fragments of meniscus damage the blood vessels, the capillaries that are inside the knee. Because of this, the knees swell. In this case, the puncture of the knee joint with the excretion of the liquid from it is indicated. Thus, it is possible to get rid of the tumor, as well as edema in a short period of time.