Clinical features of the degenerate meniscus with the results of meniscectomy.

A series of 172 patients with an unambiguous diagnosis of horizontal cleavage lesion is reviewed, the average duration of which was 4 1/2 years. Although all the patients complained of pain, night pain and mechanical instability were not invariable. Joint line tenderness was the commonest physical sign. Whereas all but 7 per cent were either 'cured' or 'improved', nearly half the patients had persistent complaints, usually pain. The objective physical findings at review frequently failed to correspond with patients' opinions of their knees. Recovery after meniscectomy may be slow.