Page 103 - ASOP ROT Study Guide

Common pathological tears within the substance of the meniscus are in the vertical plane and can be:
♦ a split off one end of the meniscus - the parrot beak, and
♦ a vertical split, which is anchored at both ends - the bucket handle
The consequence of meniscal tear is that the torn part becomes jammed in the joint, stopping it extending.

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8 . 2 . 3 Management
The meniscus is an important structure and as much of it as possible should be preserved during surgery to
help in distributing the load between femur and tibia. Peripheral tears can be reattached with sutures. Tears
within the substance of the meniscus have no apparent capacity to repair and so the torn peripheral part
should be removed.
Once clinical suspicion is aroused, patients should be subject to examination by arthroscopy. This is a
technique where a small optical instrument like a telescope, illuminated by a fiber light, is introduced into the
knee joint (Figures 9 and 10).