It is said that after meniscus removal the joint wears out faster and you get arthritis and other sequelae are serious. I don’t know what to do now. I hope experts weigh the pros and cons, what should be done in the end? 1, the meniscus is very important to the knee joint, a good meniscus can play an important role in protecting the knee cartilage and maintaining the function of knee movement; however, if there is damage to the meniscus, it is like a rusty or broken ball in the bearing, its torn fragments will cause wear and tear of the joint cartilage and aggravate cartilage damage. In some patients, the abnormal position of the meniscus tear flap can lead to limited extension or flexion of the knee joint, which can only be recovered after surgery to correct the position of the tear flap or remove the tear flap. 2. Generally speaking, conservative treatment of meniscal injuries is not recommended for the reasons stated above. There are some patients who can try: ① Patients with only minor pain. Such patients generally have a stable meniscus tear, the extent of the tear does not exceed 25px, will not be stuck in the articular cartilage, the tear flap will not be displaced in daily life. However, this conservative treatment is at the cost of giving up normal knee movement function, i.e., the patient cannot play normal sports and can only maintain daily life, and if there is a sprain or an emergency while walking, etc., the original injury may be aggravated and surgery has to be considered, and the chances of surgical meniscus suturing at this time are not good. Patients who are older, have severe cartilage wear and tear, and do not have severe pain, because the cartilage is already severely worn out, meniscus surgery is not significant to protect the cartilage, and topical medication or oral pain medication can be used. Those with heavy pain symptoms or interlocking symptoms can consider arthroscopic surgery, and those with severe cartilage degeneration should undergo joint replacement surgery. 3. Once meniscal injury is diagnosed, surgery is required as soon as possible. Arthroscopic meniscus surgery can be divided into 3 categories: total excision, partial excision and meniscus suture (i.e. meniscus repair surgery). The first two techniques are closely related to the time of meniscal injury. The longer the meniscal injury, the more severe the degree of injury may be, and the greater the possibility of total excision; if surgery is performed as soon as possible, generally only the torn flap can be removed, and the remaining good meniscal tissue can be preserved to be able to exercise part or even all of the meniscus function. Meniscal suture surgery is indicated for fresher longitudinal tears, which is a poorly understood medical anatomical term and generally requires an arthroscopic determination. In short, the sooner arthroscopic surgery is performed on non-elderly patients with meniscus injuries, the better! 4. Arthroscopic meniscus surgery has advantages! First, it is minimally invasive, and the surgery only requires 2-3 25px eyes. Secondly, post-operative recovery is fast, as long as the cartilage condition is good, non-sutured patients can return to the amount of movement required for daily life in 2-3 weeks after surgery. 5. Theoretically, premature degeneration of the knee joint can be triggered by removal of most of the meniscus or by total excision. However, a broken meniscus left in the joint can cause far more serious problems than if there were no such meniscus (imagine the scenario of a bearing without a steel ball in it running versus a running bearing with a broken steel ball in it). In reality, the degeneration of the knee joint after meniscectomy is not as severe as the theory suggests, and many athletes can not only return to competition after meniscectomy, but regain their gold medals! After meniscectomy, it is especially important to strengthen the muscles of the knee to restore function and protect the cartilage of the knee, as seen in my article on knee rehabilitation exercises.