Surgical repair of a meniscal tear may be just what the doctor ordered, but the doctor may not have read the latest research, which suggests that the surgery is good for young athletic people with acute tears, but that older people with partial tears are probably better off with exercise and physical therapy. The research, conducted at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, looked the various surgeries performed on older people with all kinds of tears. Science Daily reports that the researchers found that of 121,624 knee arthroscopies performed on the Medicare (65 years and older) population in 2016, two thirds were the meniscal repair called arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM). Yet according to Johns Hopkins professor of surgery Martin Makary, the operation is “shown to have no benefit in treating degenerative disease in multiple trials” with older patients whose meniscal tears are linked to aging and everyday wear and tear. The study authors point out that the procedure, often driven by patient demand, costs anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000. Yes, it is often paid for by insurance, but it’s one more piece of the 21 percent of all medical care that many experts believe to be unnecessary.
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