Does a meniscal tear in the knee result in osteoarthritis?
Is a meniscal tear in either knee the start of that dreaded spiral of aging that eventually results in osteoarthritis of the knee? The answer is a qualified yes. Some of the factors relate directly to your age at the time of injury, the treatment, where the tear is and the fact that after about 35 years of age the blood supply to the meniscus and its ability to heal itself goes down tremendously. There are at least 3 known studies that point to this being the case, each telling a slightly different story.
We know from a study in France that if you tear your meniscus at an age less than 35 and have that torn section removed at that time, you may need some sort of surgery for resultant osteoarthritis in the same knee on average 26 years later. If you are older than 35 however, that number of years to surgery dramatically changes to only about 10 years.1
Another study done on people who underwent menisectomy (removal of torn section) showed that the knee that had the torn meniscus was much more likely to develop osteoarthritis compared to the uninjured side.2
Yet another study looked at the associations between meniscus tears and osteoarthritis, symptoms of knee pain and radiographic signs of arthritis. The study showed that meniscal tears were indeed associated with osteoarthritis on Xrays as well as knee pain. Further, they saw increased osteoarthritis in the medial and lateral (middle and side) compartments of the knee after injury. They concluded that meniscal tears were likely an early event in the process towards developing osteoarthritis.3
So if you’re young and spry and get a meniscal tear, you may get arthritis in your knees down the road but it will likely take decades. If you are older, and a little more creaky however, and get a meniscectomy, you may be at higher risk for developing arthritis. There are still other factors like obesity, amount of high impact activity level, genetics, and stability of the knee ligaments that may also contribute to this process.
The bottom line is that If you get a knee injury that causes the knee to swell, lock, catch or buckle, this may be a sign of meniscal tear and I encourage you to get your knee checked out by a sports medicine physician or health care provider that is comfortable dealing with this kind of problem.
References:
1) Neyret, P, Donell, ST, Dejour. Osteoarthritis of the knee following meniscectomy. Br J Rheumatol 1994; 33:267.
2) Boszotta, H, Helperstorfer, W, Kolndorfer, G, et al. Long-term results of arthroscopic meniscectomy. Aktuelle Traumatol 1994; 24:30
3) Ding C, Martel-Pelletier, J etal. Meniscal tear as an osteoarthritis risk factor in a largely non-osteoarthritic cohort: a cross-sectional study. J Rheumatol 2007; 34(4):776-84
