Meniscus Tear

Hundreds of thousands of youth athletes require surgery for knee injuries annually. The incidence of operative knee injuries has skyrocketed, but surgery can be delayed due to late recognition and barriers, such as insurance, language, and difficulty navigating the healthcare system. Delays may have lifelong effects, including arthritis, persistent instability, poor patient reported outcomes, and reoperation. There is little patient-centered research on barriers to orthopaedic care, and none on interventions to reduce disparities in pediatric sports medicine. This study will focus on Hispanic children, a growing population nationally and 38% of the Chicago's children, who are at increased risk of delayed knee surgery and its sequelae compared to white, non-Hispanic patients. The overall objectives are to identify barriers to timely knee surgery in Hispanic athletes and develop an intervention to implement evidence on expedient treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of a culturally-tailored intervention in a pilot study of Hispanic youth soccer leagues. The proposed study will drive creation of a future community trial of a culturally-tailored intervention.

This is a multicenter randomized, placebo-controlled trial to assess whether a 6-month course of oral montelukast after ACL reconstruction reduces systemic markers of inflammation and biochemical and imaging biomarkers of cartilage degradation. This study will specifically target older ACL reconstruction patients with concomitant meniscal injuries as this group is at greatest risk of rapid PTOA progression. Patients will randomly be assigned to receive oral montelukast (10 mg) versus placebo daily for 6 months after surgery.

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of progressive resistance exercises (PRE) versus aerobic exercises on cartilage morphology and physical function in patients with degenerative meniscus tears. 45 participants, aged 35-55, will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: PRE, aerobic exercise, or control (standard of care physical and medical therapy). The study will utilize MRI T2 mapping to assess changes in cartilage composition and patient-reported and performance-based measures to evaluate clinical outcomes. This pilot study will also determine the feasibility and issues related to recruitment and retention for a larger trial.

The purpose of this clinical trial is to assess the safety and efficacy of AM3101 to facilitate meniscal repair and reduce the incidence of non-healing complications and morbidities associated with a failed meniscal repair. This is a prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blinded, multi-center study.

The bridge-enhanced ACL repair (BEAR) implant is a collagen-based scaffold loaded with whole blood. It is designed to promote healing in the setting of intraarticular knee pathology. This study would compare clinical outcomes and synovial fluid cytokine profiles in patients who undergo isolated meniscal repair with or without the BEAR implant.

This study will be conducted to see if a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner could give additional information or help view the body in a different way. The new scanner may be useful to diagnose conditions affecting tissues such as ligaments, tendons and cartilage more accurately, potentially improving the quality of care by the NHS. To develop such protocols and to test the clinical capabilities of the scanner, it is necessary to evaluate the scans of healthy volunteers before recruiting patient participants. Conventional MRI scans are unable to detect the signal from tissues such as ligaments, tendons, cartilage and cortical bone, which contain highly aligned collagen fibres and the signal decays too quickly to be captured. These tissues appear black and are only seen because of the surrounding brighter tissues. If a bright region appears, it can be a sign of an injury or disease, but it can also appear due to the Magic Angle artefacts, when the collagen fibres are at a specific angle to the main magnetic field of the MR scanner. This anomaly can make assessment of these tissues difficult. Currently the diagnostic gold standard is arthroscopy, though it is mostly undertaken therapeutically. The method harnesses this inherent tissue property to gain information about these collagen-rich tissues in joints. Using Magic Angle Direction Imaging (MADI) it is possible to obtain detailed information about the collagen fibre structures, and this is not available using conventional MRI. MADI could be important for planning surgery, developing new tissue implants, and monitoring outcome measures. In both standard cylindrical scanner and the conventional open scanner, it is impossible to move the magnet, nor the patient, in the required manner. This motivated the development of a novel prototype MA scanner that can move around the patient. The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability to routinely perform in-vivo Magic Angle-MRI of collagen structures in joints based on the magic angle principle, and to assess the ability to use qualitative and quantitative assessment of the Magic Angle-MR images to distinguish between the pathologies of the soft structures imaged.

The menisci are crucial for knee stability and functionality. Composed of fibrocartilaginous structure, they have an anatomical and biomechanical arrangement that makes them essential for load transmission and the prevention of osteoarthritis. Meniscal root lesions, known as "ROOT tears," compromise their protective function on the cartilage, leading to increased contact pressures between the tibia and femur and, over time, the development of osteoarthritis. Early diagnosis of these lesions is difficult and often the first detection is incidental. The subsequent challenges are significant due to a lack of pre-operative planning. A possible solution is a surgical technique involving arthroscopic suture of the posterior meniscal root along with the posterior cruciate ligament. This procedure does not require pre-operative planning and is applicable even in cases of incidental diagnosis.

Longitudinal meniscal tears are a type of meniscal injury characterized by a displaced fragment of the meniscus that flips over into the joint, often resembling a buckle or handle. These tears typically occur in the medial meniscus and are often associated with traumatic knee injuries, particularly in athletes. The displaced meniscal fragment can cause mechanical symptoms such as locking, clicking, or catching of the knee, as well as pain and swelling. If not properly treated, buckle-handle meniscal tears can lead to further complications, including chronic knee instability, increased risk of osteoarthritis, and persistent joint pain.Repairing a longitudinal meniscal tear offers several advantages over partial meniscectomy, particularly in preserving knee function and preventing long-term complications. Meniscal repair aims to restore the integrity of the meniscus, which plays a crucial role in load distribution, shock absorption, and joint stability. Utilizing a fibrin clot during the repair of a buckle-handle meniscal tear can enhance the healing process and improve surgical outcomes. Fibrin clots act as a biological scaffold, promoting tissue regeneration by providing a matrix that facilitates cellular migration and proliferation. The purpose of this study was to compare longitudinal meniscal tear repair reinforced with fibrin clot with routine end-to-end repair in a prospective randomized controlled trial.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of anti-gravity treadmill training on symptoms and functions in patients with meniscus tears.

A novel bioactive sleeve will be compared to a placebo sleeve with a similar look and feel to assess pain outcomes, patient reported outcome measures, and effectiveness of healing based on range of motion.

The investigators will compare the results of sono-guided femoral nerve block in arthroscopic surgery for meniscal tear under spinal anesthesia

The investigators will compare the results of sono-guided femoral nerve block in arthroscopic surgery for meniscal tear under general anesthesia

The aim of this study is to assess outcomes of Posteromedial Tibiofemoral Incongruence (PMTFI) Treatment