Knee Question - Meniscal Tear

Hi All,

My 15 year old daughter has a tear in her meniscus. We see orthopedic doc on Monday. He indicated on the phone surgery will be required to fix. We'll get full run down on Monday.

What are your experiences or recommendations? Any medical experts want to give some advice? I ask only because I'm always suspicious of surgery recommendations, especially for a 15 year old. Are there other treatment methods or is this legit?

Copied from MRI report:

There is MR appearance of a large overall horizontally oriented meniscal tear involving the posterior horn and body of the medial meniscus. There is extension to both superior and inferior articular surfaces. The meniscal tear appears to extend to the meniscal root as seen on sagittal image 12 of series 7 with evidence of vertical truncation of the meniscal root. In addition, there is is appearance of a small, approximately 4 mm meniscal fragment displaced superiorly from the meniscal root, seen on image 17 series 5.

On coronal images 11 and 10 of series 5, appearance of an additional contiguous displaced meniscal fragment from the meniscal body, displaced inferiorly and medially, with this displaced meniscal fragment measuring approximately 6 mm and displacement measuring approximately 6 mm.

Very simple surgery for the most part and recovery time is usually very minimal. I’ve had it done on both of my knees. First one was at 17 from a football injury and second was at 45. I also spent 18 years working with Orthopedic surgeons. I would do a little background check on the surgeon. There are a lot of good and bad ones out there. I wouldn’t have hesitated having it done on my daughter at 15. A torn meniscus can also do more damage inside the knee. I’m not a doctor and this is just my opinion. Good luck and sorry to hear about the injury.


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@kirks5oh @biminiLX

These two guys helped me tremendously during my motorcycle accident. I completely ripped both meniscus’s, and complete ACL tear. I’d say often times depending on how the injury occurred, and or how active she is will depend on recovery time, etc. I’m not pro surgery most of the time. However getting a 2nd opinion is always wise. Sorry to hear about the Injury I wish her a speedy recovery.

JPKII said:

Hi All,

My 15 year old daughter has a tear in her meniscus. We see orthopedic doc on Monday. He indicated on the phone surgery will be required to fix. We'll get full run down on Monday.

What are your experiences or recommendations? Any medical experts want to give some advice? I ask only because I'm always suspicious of surgery recommendations, especially for a 15 year old. Are there other treatment methods or is this legit?

Copied from MRI report:

There is MR appearance of a large overall horizontally oriented meniscal tear involving the posterior horn and body of the medial meniscus. There is extension to both superior and inferior articular surfaces. The meniscal tear appears to extend to the meniscal root as seen on sagittal image 12 of series 7 with evidence of vertical truncation of the meniscal root. In addition, there is is appearance of a small, approximately 4 mm meniscal fragment displaced superiorly from the meniscal root, seen on image 17 series 5.

On coronal images 11 and 10 of series 5, appearance of an additional contiguous displaced meniscal fragment from the meniscal body, displaced inferiorly and medially, with this displaced meniscal fragment measuring approximately 6 mm and displacement measuring approximately 6 mm.

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If you can’t trust the person tasked with possibly saving your life, who can you trust?

Yes, she needs surgery—unless you don’t like your daughter

Yes, this is a surgery I do every day for the past 20 years

Yes, I can spend endless hours talking your ear off about the surgery, recovery, long term prognosis—anything you need to know




No—I’m not going to help you. Take your “suspicions” and google it, my man. Have a great day.

kirks5oh said:

If you can’t trust the person tasked with possibly saving your life, who can you trust?

Yes, she needs surgery—unless you don’t like your daughter

Yes, this is a surgery I do every day for the past 20 years

Yes, I can spend endless hours talking your ear off about the surgery, recovery, long term prognosis—anything you need to know




No—I’m not going to help you. Take your “suspicions” and google it, my man. Have a great day.

Click to expand...

good lord man, you say this like there aren't doctors out there that will recommend surgery and others that won't in some cases. Albeit this may be cut and dry it isn't always that way. My grandfather went to plenty of urologists and other specialists through the whole prostate cancer deal and second opinions was always part of the deal. One of the urologists, while we were just chatting, asked him how he ended up in urology and his answer involved "because I like to operate". No wonder he was the first to always recommend a procedure. Doesnt mean he was wrong but certainly casts some doubt on his recs.

Might not have been the attitude I would have responded with, but MCL surgeries are pretty simple, and certain the best option for short and long term results.

A partial tear, older patients, or some other circumstances may change that, but there’s a reason the grumpy doctor/surgeon above has performed thousands of these surgeries….because they work.

I'd recommend talking with local physical therapists, if they are allowed to talk to you about such things.

They know which surgeons are highly skilled and which ones are butchers based on patient recovery dynamics.

JPKII said:

Hi All,

My 15 year old daughter has a tear in her meniscus. We see orthopedic doc on Monday. He indicated on the phone surgery will be required to fix. We'll get full run down on Monday.

What are your experiences or recommendations? Any medical experts want to give some advice? I ask only because I'm always suspicious of surgery recommendations, especially for a 15 year old. Are there other treatment methods or is this legit?

Copied from MRI report:

There is MR appearance of a large overall horizontally oriented meniscal tear involving the posterior horn and body of the medial meniscus. There is extension to both superior and inferior articular surfaces. The meniscal tear appears to extend to the meniscal root as seen on sagittal image 12 of series 7 with evidence of vertical truncation of the meniscal root. In addition, there is is appearance of a small, approximately 4 mm meniscal fragment displaced superiorly from the meniscal root, seen on image 17 series 5.

On coronal images 11 and 10 of series 5, appearance of an additional contiguous displaced meniscal fragment from the meniscal body, displaced inferiorly and medially, with this displaced meniscal fragment measuring approximately 6 mm and displacement measuring approximately 6 mm.

Click to expand...

Get second and third opinions man and pick the ortho you like the most. Almost 99 percent sure surgery will be needed. I talked to three different docs with regard to my 3 level ACDF discectomy and fusion from C4-C7. I actually went with the first doc that wanted to do the most. The second doc was basically telling me what I wanted to hear. I wasn’t a good candidate for disc replacement due to multiple levels needing repair and the amount of bone/osteophytes that needed removing. He wanted to do a fusion as well, but said if I really wanted a replacement he would do two levels instead… like that’s great doc, but I am not the expert, you are… the third doc also a neurosurgeon is actually a family friend, but he really doesn’t do surgeries anymore, he is a dept head and teaches as well. I just wanted a sanity check with regard to my options. Sorry for rambling, good luck and I hope all goes well!

kirks5oh said:

If you can’t trust the person tasked with possibly saving your life, who can you trust?

Yes, she needs surgery—unless you don’t like your daughter

Yes, this is a surgery I do every day for the past 20 years

Yes, I can spend endless hours talking your ear off about the surgery, recovery, long term prognosis—anything you need to know




No—I’m not going to help you. Take your “suspicions” and google it, my man. Have a great day.

Click to expand...

I actually really appreciate your perspective. The only adjustment I might make is, altruistically, medical professionals are, indeed, trusted with saving our lives. In some rare cases, however, the desire to create profit outweighs one's judgement on the necessity of surgery. The purpose of my question was based on that fact that I don't know the severity of the tear or IF there may be alternatives. Since we are all such big fish in our respective little ponds, I thought it might be best to learn a little bit about the tears and what they really mean. Clearly I am going to make the best, most informed, for my daughters care.

I'm certainly glad this seems like a more routine process. We will see for sure on Monday. From there we'll decide is second opinion is warranted.

JPKII said:

I actually really appreciate your perspective. The only adjustment I might make is, altruistically, medical professionals are, indeed, trusted with saving our lives. In some rare cases, however, the desire to create profit outweighs one's judgement on the necessity of surgery. The purpose of my question was based on that fact that I don't know the severity of the tear or IF there may be alternatives. Since we are all such big fish in our respective little ponds, I thought it might be best to learn a little bit about the tears and what they really mean. Clearly I am going to make the best, most informed, for my daughters care.

I'm certainly glad this seems like a more routine process. We will see for sure on Monday. From there we'll decide is second opinion is warranted.

Click to expand...

Doctors don't like their opinions being challenged in the same way police don't like you pushing back on warrantless searches.

Get multiple opinions and choose the one that best suits your family.




After all.... imagine what would happen if we weren't ALL vaccinated!

That went from “ask these guys, they helped me” to “go **** yourself” real quick!


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To give some additional context, daughter is walking fine with no swelling, etc. This is really why I’m questioning this. Or the severity of it. On the surface it doesn’t appear to be a big deal.

Obviously if she was in terrible pain or unable to walk, it wouldn’t be a question.

MG0h3 said:

That went from “ask these guys, they helped me” to “go **** yourself” real quick!


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It’s all good. That why this place is so fun.

I tore mine jumping across a wash @40yrs old.

Main complaint after was random pain (positional) with a brief sharp pain and my leg would give out.

Stupid shit like turning from the fridge or just random going up stairs.

Now if I run more than a couple times a week it hurts to where I can’t run at all.

Be prepared for a second surgery.

I can’t think of a single person that I know that hasn’t had to have a follow up surgery.

I had to have a “revision” on my shoulder surgery after 2yrs of physical therapy and no improvement.


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JPKII said:

I actually really appreciate your perspective. The only adjustment I might make is, altruistically, medical professionals are, indeed, trusted with saving our lives. In some rare cases, however, the desire to create profit outweighs one's judgement on the necessity of surgery. The purpose of my question was based on that fact that I don't know the severity of the tear or IF there may be alternatives. Since we are all such big fish in our respective little ponds, I thought it might be best to learn a little bit about the tears and what they really mean. Clearly I am going to make the best, most informed, for my daughters care.

I'm certainly glad this seems like a more routine process. We will see for sure on Monday. From there we'll decide is second opinion is warranted.

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Sorry for being a dick, it sounds like you are just trying to make an informed decision. She will need surgery to hopefully repair the tear, pick a fellowship trained sports doc and ask how many meniscal repairs he does in a year…it should be at least 50. Good luck with everything, PM me if needed.

LS WUT said:

@kirks5oh @biminiLX

These two guys helped me tremendously during my motorcycle accident. I completely ripped both meniscus’s, and complete ACL tear. I’d say often times depending on how the injury occurred, and or how active she is will depend on recovery time, etc. I’m not pro surgery most of the time. However getting a 2nd opinion is always wise. Sorry to hear about the Injury I wish her a speedy recovery.

Click to expand...

Who did you use for your recovery? I just had an MRI done a couple days ago on my left knee. Unsure if I'll need surgery or not, but the report mentioned tears multiple times. Waiting to hear back from my orthopedic.

this is what mine says

"PCL demonstrates split tear from femoral to tibial attachment with trace edema at the insertion. Medial meniscus with posterior root stretching/low-grade partial tear with edema at the insertion and no meniscal extrusion. Lateral meniscus with anterior interstitial root degeneration and meniscal femoral Wrisberg ligament sprain without a respect tear. ACL sprain. There is no tibial translation patellar tendinitis. Quadriceps intact. Medial collateral ligament and posterior medial corner intact with distal semimembranosus tendinitis. Posterolateral corner intact Patellofemoral articulation with lateral tilt. Retinacula are intact. Bony structures and hyaline cartilage surfaces with mild edema at the posterior tibial eminence and minimally along the posterior lateral femoral condyle. There is a moderate volume joint effusion and no popliteal cyst.

IMPRESSION:
1. PCL high-grade longitudinal partial tear with posterior capsular sprain and mild edema at insertion
2. Medial meniscal posterior root ligament low-grade partial tear with stretching and edema at insertion
3. Lateral meniscal anterior interstitial tear at root without extrusion
4. Mild ACL sprain
5. Patellar tendonitis/interstitial nonretracted tear with large retropatellar tendon bursitis
6. Grade 2 chondral thinning periphery medial femorotibial compartments "

NateDogg said:

Who did you use for your recovery? I just had an MRI done a couple days ago on my left knee. Unsure if I'll need surgery or not, but the report mentioned tears multiple times. Waiting to hear back from my orthopedic.

this is what mine says

"PCL demonstrates split tear from femoral to tibial attachment with trace edema at the insertion. Medial meniscus with posterior root stretching/low-grade partial tear with edema at the insertion and no meniscal extrusion. Lateral meniscus with anterior interstitial root degeneration and meniscal femoral Wrisberg ligament sprain without a respect tear. ACL sprain. There is no tibial translation patellar tendinitis. Quadriceps intact. Medial collateral ligament and posterior medial corner intact with distal semimembranosus tendinitis. Posterolateral corner intact Patellofemoral articulation with lateral tilt. Retinacula are intact. Bony structures and hyaline cartilage surfaces with mild edema at the posterior tibial eminence and minimally along the posterior lateral femoral condyle. There is a moderate volume joint effusion and no popliteal cyst."

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I used Dr. Daniel Lamar at Coastal Orthopedics. They have a rehab facility in the same building, Maria was my Physical Therapist. She was amazing.

I would definitely get a second opinion just for your (and your daughter's) peace of mind. @kirks5oh invited you to PM him if necessary. I have a sense he will help you become more knowledgeable and at peace about the surgery and recovery.

By the way, how did the tear happen? Sports?

I tore mine at 19 crashing a snowmobile so just speaking to my personal experience. After the accident I couldn’t put weight on it for several days but eventually slowly was able to put weight on it then everything was back to normal. Every few months after I would bend it or twist it weird and wouldn’t be able to walk for 2-3 days then eventually could fine. This happened 4-5 times till the pain was terrible and couldn’t walk on it at all after a couple weeks. When I went in for surgery doctor told me I should have came in right after accident and damage was obviously much worse than it could have been. As stated above I would get a couple opinions but if the consensus is she needs surgery I would get it done asap. Make sure she does all her physical therapy I didn’t and still don’t have full range of motion and wish I would have but I was young and stupid. Good luck either way.

CobraBob said:

I would definitely get a second opinion just for your (and your daughter's) peace of mind. @kirks5oh invited you to PM him if necessary. I have a sense he will help you become more knowledgeable and at peace about the surgery and recovery.

By the way, how did the tear happen? Sports?

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She says she fell out of bed.

She’s pretty fit. Runs in track. Is tall and lanky.

Tonight she says it’s hurting her. We haven’t told her what doc says. Mostly because we don’t want her freaking out all weekend long. We do have another orthopedic guy lined up for second opinion. The guy we’re seeing on Monday has operated on my wife a couple of times so she has a high trust level with this guy. I have trust issues, so…. Lol

Thanks everyone for the comments and wishes.

@kirks5oh much appreciated. Thank you for the offer. After doc appt on Monday, we may take you up on that.