Stop The Scope! Physical Therapy for Meniscus Injuries
One of the copious benefits being a part of an advanced medical system provides us is access to research, and numerous research studies being performed. Physical therapy for knee pain is a strongly researched topic, comparing it to placebo treatment or injections. Physical therapy for knee related injuries is also put up against surgery in a fair amount of research. The more we continue to have published about conservative management for knee pain versus a procedure, the more the pendulum is swinging in physical therapy’s favor!
When discussing a surgery for the meniscus, usually the two most common procedures are a meniscectomy or a meniscus repair. In this blog, we are discussing a meniscectomy. A meniscus that could benefit from repair still could do well with conservative management in physical therapy, but approaching a repair versus a removal or a ‘clean up’ is much different.
The meniscectomy is when the meniscus is procedurally intervened on by taking out a piece or portion of the meniscus, roughly speaking. This is commonly talked about as a meniscus ‘scope.’ A lot of times, surgeons will have their patients begin physical therapy for meniscus rehab pre-surgery, and continue post operatively as well. This time frame of recovery certainly varies from person to person, but a meniscectomy is an ambulatory surgery (meaning it’s usually same day leaving the surgical center as you entered). Now this is where things get interesting…
Short term and long term studies have been done comparing physical therapy for meniscus rehab compared to meniscectomy, and the global results are favoring physical therapy! There are studies that support both as a superior intervention, but more support is in the camp of physical therapy compared to meniscectomy for the long term. Let’s unpack this a bit. Short term results actually show some superior outcomes for surgery. This can be due to a multitude of factors, but trusting the data and studies we can see a positive result short term in a meniscectomy. Long term is where it declines. Studies are showing better functional outcomes, pain outcomes, and varied objective results in the physical therapy groups! What can we take from this? Though short term results may have improvements in pain for the surgery, your long term results are better off with physical therapy. We all hope to have our knees last and engage in activity for the long term, so this would sway in physical therapy’s favor for NOT going under the knife and continuing or starting conservative management for meniscus injuries.
This topic is complex, and this blog post is covering it at a superficial level. I understand that we can dive much deeper into the weeds than we currently have, but the message is this:
If you have a meniscus injury, surgery is not always the answer and may in fact be the lesser advantageous intervention to move forward with! Do your research, talk to a trusted PT as well as a trusted MD, and come up with the best plan for you and your knee. Our bias is certainly present when I say physical therapy is the superior option, but that is not just out clinical bias… that is supported in the research as well. Stop the scope as the first line intervention!
Interested in knowing more about physical therapy for meniscus injuries? Our physical therapy team in Minneapolis and Stillwater are ready to help the current you while also helping the future you in the process.
We would be happy to discuss further how Loon State Physical Therapy can be a teammate in getting you back to moving and feeling your best! Our convenient Minneapolis physical therapy, Edina physical therapy, and Stillwater physical therapy locations will happily welcome you to get you back to moving at your best. Call us at (612) 405-8503 or book with us online at www.loonstatephysicaltherapy.com for an in-person or virtual appointment.
We look forward to being your teammate through this recovery journey!
Andrew Eccles
Owner and Physical Therapist at Loon State Physical Therapy
