Unfortunately, sports and injuries are inextricably linked. That’s why injury management is so important in modern sports. Reducing the risk of injury in advance and coping with and managing it well after it occurs are positioned as factors that can change the fate of a player and a team.안전놀이터

For the year 2023, Rookie has prepared a new corner to discuss injuries in depth. It’s called ‘Medical Report’. We talk about various injuries with Professor Doo-Han Kim, who is a clinical assistant professor at Keimyung University’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery and a medical member of the Korea Basketball Association.

Q. Let’s get straight to the point. It seems that even basketball fans don’t take meniscal injuries seriously or know much about them, compared to anterior cruciate ligament or Achilles tendon injuries. Where is the semilunar cartilage? And how can meniscus injuries usually appear?

Professor Doo  -Han Kim_ Meniscus is a structure that exists only in the knee among the joints in our body. There are two of them on the inside and outside of the knee, and they perform various functions between the thighbone (femur) and the shinbone (tibia), but the most important role of the meniscus is to prevent excessive load on the shinbone by properly distributing body weight. can be seen as

Meniscus tears come in many different forms. As shown in the picture below, it can be ruptured in a variety of patterns, so it is impossible to predict without MRI or arthroscopy. 

Q. I heard that there are many different treatments for meniscus injuries. I personally have had arthroscopic surgery because of meniscus damage, and I know that many athletes also undergo the surgery. What are the treatments for meniscus injuries?

Professor Kim Doo -Han_ Yes, that’s right. As explained earlier, there are many different types of ruptures, so there are many different treatments. Most surgeries are performed through arthroscopy, but there are two types of surgical methods: 1) excision (removal) and 2) suture. 

To understand the treatment, there are some things you need to know in advance. It is the blood supply structure of the meniscus. As you can see in the picture, blood is supplied from the outside of the meniscus, but blood is not supplied to all parts. You can think that only the outer half is supplied with blood. Because of this, it is very difficult and impossible to save the part without blood supply by suturing it when it ruptures. Therefore, considering the shape of the rupture along with the characteristics of the meniscus, it is decided whether or not to operate, and if surgery is necessary, which method is better between suturing and resection. 

Q. It seems that I have seen many cases where athletes who suffer an anterior cruciate ligament rupture or knee fracture experience meniscus damage together.

Professor Kim Doo -Han_ In fact, the probability of meniscal cartilage damage in the knee in anterior cruciate ligament rupture is very high. According to a paper published in 2022, it is known that the outer meniscus is accompanied by about 4 to 50% and the inner meniscus is accompanied by about 30%. It is easy to understand if you think about the mechanism of anterior cruciate ligament injury. The anterior cruciate ligament tends to tear when the knee twists when changing direction or landing on an unstable landing. This is because the meniscal plate located between the two bones of the knee is inevitably subjected to a great shock.