Have your meniscus tear repaired by the
Meniscus Root Tear Specialist
Have an anterior horn meniscus tear?
Don’t let someone remove your meniscus.
SAVE YOUR MENISCUS! Living with a meniscus tear or allowing a surgeon to remove the torn parts significantly increases your risk for arthritis and knee replacement. Anterior horn tears commonly cause pain in the front of the knee and are often ignored or removed by doctors. Don’t let someone “trim”, “debride” or “clean up” your meniscus or temporarily mitigate your symptoms with cortisone, PRP or stem cells. Have it sewn back together by the best! Justin D. Saliman, MD invented the Circumferential Stitch for meniscus repair which is ideal for anterior horn tears. Nobody has more experience passing this revolutionary stitch!
Why repair the meniscus root?
And why with the Double Locking Loop Stitch?
Meniscus root tears are serious injuries that render the meniscus non-functional. Without a functional meniscus, the knee becomes arthritic and often requires knee replacement. Repair of the root back to the bone has recently gained acceptance, but the weak link in the repair is the tissue-suture interface. If the stitches pull through the meniscus or elongate during the 6 weeks it takes for the meniscus to heal, the repair will fail.
It is hence critical to receive the strongest suture pattern possible when repairing the meniscus. The double locking loop stitch passes twice through the substance of the meniscus root and, when passed with the NovoStitch device, penetrates both the bottom and top side to maximize pull-through strength and minimize the risk of failure.
Am I too old to have my meniscus repaired?
NO! Studies have shown that patient age is not a factor, and that the meniscus can heal in patients of all ages provided the knee is not already arthritic
I was told my tear was “degenerative” and could not heal because there was not a blood supply?
Surgeons often blame the blood supply even though there is excellent medical literature evidence that the avascular zones heal if adequately held together during the healing process. If the knee is not already arthritic the meniscus root can heal! See the videos on this site for additional proof!
See the following article, The Circumferential Compression Stitch for Meniscus Repair, for a better understanding of why repair your meniscus and to see the various tear types
What is a meniscus root tear?
Your menisci are two C-shaped pieces of cartilage that cushion your knee joints and distribute forces evenly within your knee every time you take a step. When one end of the C pulls out of the bone, you have a root tear. This typically occurs in the posterior horn (back of the knee).
A meniscal root tear is one of the most catastrophic types of meniscus tears in terms of likelihood for arthritis later in life. It is a tear at or very close to where your meniscus attaches to the bone.
When the meniscus pulls off of the bone at the root insertion it is rendered functionless and can no longer absorb the hoop stresses that distribute forces in the knee. Root tears left torn or treated with partial meniscectomy lead to an arthritic change of the surrounding articular cartilage within the knee. The only definitive treatment for an arthritic knee is the replacement of the joint – so, SAVE YOUR MENISCUS!
Symptoms of a meniscus root tear may include one or more of the following:
- Pain in the back or inside of your knee
- Decreased motion
- Swelling
- Feeling as though your knee is getting stuck
- Instability in your knee
You may still be able to walk after you tear your meniscus root, but it will probably hurt, especially with hills and stairs.
How are meniscal root tears treated?
Leaving a torn meniscus root within your knee increases your risk of arthritis and the eventual need for knee replacement surgery. Similarly, “cleaning up” your meniscus root (often called “trimming” or “partial meniscectomy”) also results in arthritis and the possible eventual need for knee replacement.
Injecting the knee with cortisone, PRP or even stem cells, has not been shown to heal meniscus root tears. There are simply too many hoop forces on the meniscus root constantly pulling it away from the bone with every step and bend, hence the root cannot heal without stitches holding the tear in place during the 6 weeks that it takes for the meniscus to heal (similar to a cast for a broken bone).
Your best option is to have your meniscus root sewn back down to the bone rather than removed. The NovoStitch allows Dr. Saliman to pass Double Locking Loop Stitches to firmly hold the meniscus down to the bone during healing (the weak link in typical repairs is the tissue-suture interface).
What is the NovoStitch Pro Meniscal Repair System?
Dr. Saliman founded Ceterix® Orthopaedics in 2010 to develop the NovoStitch Pro Meniscal Repair technology. The NovoStitch was approved by the FDA in 2012, received an Award at the 2015 Edison Awards, and was recently purchased by a well known medical device company called Smith & Nephew.
Dr. Saliman uses his NovoStitch device to place double locking loop stitches within the posterior horn of your torn meniscus, which holds the torn edges together while it heals. He has extensive experience sewing meniscus root tears back together.
For the best care of your meniscal tear from the inventor of the NovoStitch Meniscal Repair System call the office of Justin D. Saliman, MD, or request an appointment online today.
“This is a great honor for our founder, Dr. Justin Saliman, and our R&D team,” said John McCutcheon, president and CEO. “We are pleased to be included with the great innovators recognized by the Edison Awards.”
Justin Saliman, Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Ceterix said: “We are excited by the growth opportunities of the NovoStitch Pro at Smith & Nephew and are proud of the impact our technology has made in developing the meniscal repair market.”
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Justin D. Saliman, MD, Los Angeles, CA
Phone (appointments):(310)703-5819
Phone (general inquiries):(310)703-5819
Address: 8436 W 3rd St, Suite 800,
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Justin D. Saliman, MD, Beverly Hills, CA
Phone (appointments):(310)703-5819
Phone (general inquiries): (310)703-5819
Address: 450 N. Roxbury Dr. , Ste 600, Beverly Hills, CA 90201
