Common situation
Recommended knee arthroscopy or meniscus surgery
Evidence on meniscus surgery has shifted over the past decade. A second opinion can help you understand where you fit.
Understanding your options
What you have probably been told
You have likely been told that an MRI shows a meniscus tear, and that keyhole surgery (arthroscopy) to trim or repair it has been suggested. This is often accompanied by pain, catching, locking or swelling in the knee. Some people are told surgery is the obvious next step; others are told it may or may not help, without a clear sense of which applies to them.
A guide to the discussion
The tear is only part of the picture
Symptoms
Which symptoms could the tear explain?
Tear pattern
Where is the tear and what type is it?
Whole joint
Is there arthritis or other damage too?
Previous treatment
What has helped or failed to help?
Bring the findings together with your goals.
No single finding decides the right treatment for everyone.
Your clinical review
What a second opinion looks at
Professor Lee reviews the scan report and images, your history and how your symptoms behave, and examines the knee to see whether the mechanical symptoms (catching, locking, giving way) actually match a tear that surgery is likely to fix, as opposed to background wear that surgery would not change. Age, the pattern and location of the tear, and whether there is underlying arthritis all affect how likely surgery is to help, which is why two knees that look similar on paper can reasonably get different advice.
Understand the proposed procedure
Questions to explore with your consultant; these are not individual treatment recommendations.
What you can take away
The realistic range of outcomes
Outcomes vary genuinely by case. For a clear mechanical tear causing locking or catching in an otherwise healthy joint, surgery may well be confirmed as the right option. For a degenerative tear found alongside early arthritis, physiotherapy and time are often at least as effective as surgery, and that may be the advice instead. In some cases repair rather than trimming is discussed, since repair preserves more of the meniscus where possible. As with any of these pages, confirming your existing plan is a legitimate and useful outcome.
Make the appointment yours
Questions worth asking
- Is this a mechanical tear likely to respond to surgery, or a degenerative one that might not?
- Would repair be possible instead of trimming, and does that change recovery?
- What would physiotherapy alone realistically achieve here?
- Is there early arthritis in this knee, and does that change the advice?
- What happens if I wait and try non-surgical treatment first?
Second Opinion Clinic
Talk through your next step.
£400 · 45 minutes · Monthly clinic sessions
Confirm the next clinic date, location and available slot when booking.