Xiaopan usually likes to play basketball, once after a fierce game, Xiaopan found that his knee joint was swollen like a big bun, and he felt severe pain when he bent his knee. After Prof. Wang gave Pan a physical examination, he was asked to do a knee MRI. The result of the examination was just as Prof. Wang expected, Pan was diagnosed with a torn meniscus injury of the knee, and surgery was recommended. Xiao Pan was stunned at once, how to play a ball, a little injury, need surgery? Let Prof. Wang tell you why. First, what is meniscus? Meniscus is a crescent-shaped fibrous cartilage that fills the joint space between the femur and the tibia. There are two menisci in each knee joint: the medial meniscus and the lateral meniscus. In layman’s terms, the two menisci are like two soft cushions in the joint cavity, between the upper and lower bones, playing a cushioning role. Second, meniscus damage? Meniscus injury, mainly because of acute injury to the knee joint and knee joint tissue degeneration. Acute injury: knee joint pain, can not straighten, and rapid swelling, sometimes with intra-articular fluid accumulation of blood. Mostly seen in young people’s sports injuries, when the knee joint rapid twisting, vigorously kicking the ball and kicking the air, squatting and walking, running tripped easily produce meniscus injuries; After the chronic stage: joint swelling is not obvious, joint function has also been restored, but always feel the joint pain, activities with popping. There is pressure and pain in the joint space, popping, knee flexion contracture and even atrophy of the rectus femoris muscle. With the age of meniscus degeneration degeneration, knee joint repeated activities caused by chronic injury, common in the medial meniscus posterior corner of the injury. Third, the treatment of meniscus injury after acute injury, pay attention to rest, reduce activities, avoid causing discomfort posture or movement. After the injury, ice can be applied for 10-20 minutes and the knee joint can be elevated to a high level. Immobilize with appropriate braces under doctor’s supervision. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be used for pain relief if necessary. After the acute symptoms improve, and when the swelling and other symptoms of the joint decrease, you can go to the hospital to make an appointment for an MRI of the knee to further investigate the meniscus damage. After meniscus injury, the doctor will treat the injury conservatively or surgically according to the clinical symptoms, physical examination and auxiliary examination. Conservative treatment generally has the following as a reference: 1, reduce pain through appropriate physical therapy; 2, wear knee pads to minimize the weight of the joints, to protect the joint function; 3, strengthen the muscles around the knee joint, recommended swimming, not recommended climbing mountains and stairs, running and jumping strenuous exercise; 4, regular review of the affected knee MRI, to clearly define the meniscus condition as well as the tibial plateau cartilage condition. Surgical treatment: minimally invasive knee arthroscopy is the first recommended treatment. Minimally invasive knee arthroscopic surgery treatment is less traumatic, with better efficacy and faster recovery. During the surgery, only lumbar anesthesia is usually needed, and then in the knee joint, two 0.5-1.0cm incisions are taken, and the arthroscopic cannula enters into the joint cavity, and the image in the joint cavity is projected to the display screen through the light lens, and the doctor can look at the screen and probe the meniscus damage under direct vision, and can repair and mold the damaged meniscus through the planer knife, radiofrequency and other professional arthroscopic instruments. After the operation, when the effect of lumbar anesthesia subsides, the patient can usually get out of bed and walk slowly on flat ground with assistance. The next day after the operation, the patient can generally be discharged from the hospital, and can walk out of the hospital on their own. Fourth, the consequences of meniscus injury meniscus injury is the biggest danger is when walking and sports will lead to knee cartilage wear and tear and damage, resulting in permanent knee cartilage damage. It is just like the ball in the bearing is broken, it will also wear out the surrounding parts. When cartilage damage reaches a certain level, it is usually difficult to achieve a satisfactory outcome, even if the meniscus injury has been dealt with surgically! Finally, Prof. Wang would like to tell you that there is no specific medicine to treat meniscus damage, and cartilage damage, much less to repair it on its own. Doctors can repair the damaged meniscus through arthroscopic surgery, but after the surgery, it is more important to strengthen the scientific, targeted functional exercise to prevent muscle atrophy, promote blood circulation, and restore the normal physiological function of the knee joint; the correct exercise, positively face the injury, and do what you can to respect and cherish your own body. Injury is to prompt you to learn the power of sports knowledge, timely and correct, scientific sports rehabilitation, can be engaged in future sports hobby. The human body is like a car, parts have wear and tear, do not overuse, it is important to know how to maintain.