Postoperative follow-up and rehabilitation after meniscus replacement

Even though basic scientific knowledge about the meniscal loading pattern may advocate restrictive rehabilitation after meniscus repair, experience and one controlled study favour accelerated rehabilitation. The current protocols for rehabilitation after meniscal substitution follow personal experience with parameters such as pain, effusion, locking, and gait pattern used as clinical guidance. Controlled clinical studies on rehabilitation should be encouraged. An example of a rehabilitation protocol is given. As meniscus replacement is a new treatment option, it is essential to document details about the graft, the knee status at operation and the surgical procedure. The goal of a postoperative follow-up is to control quality, to measure patient satisfaction and to show whether meniscus replacement is beneficial in relation to the natural history of meniscectomy cases. There is a need for a standard follow-up evaluation of patients after meniscus replacement, and the development of a meniscus transplantation score including subjective and objective data is suggested.