Researchers analyzed the data of 146 patients aged 35 to 65 who were part of the Finnish Degenerative Meniscal Lesion Study. All patients had experienced pain in the inner side of their knee for at least three months from what was suggested to be a torn meniscus. Prior to the surgery, 69 patients reported mechanical symptoms, of which 32 were in the partial meniscectomy group and 37 were in the sham treatment group.
Here are five points:
1. From a survey carried out two, six, and 12 months after treatments, researchers found that 49 percent of patients in the partial meniscectomy group and 43 percent of those in the sham treatment group reported mechanical symptoms at some point during follow-up.
2. Of the 69 patients who reported mechanical symptoms before treatment, 72 percent of patients in the partial meniscectomy group and 59 percent of patients in the sham treatment group continued to experience such symptoms at certain times during follow-up.
3. Twenty-eight percent of patients from the partial meniscectomy group and 41 percent of patients from the sham treatment group reported complete alleviation of mechanical symptoms for the entire follow-up duration.
4. Based on their findings, researchers conclude the partial removal of a degenerative torn meniscus does not reduce or alleviate mechanical symptoms when compared with sham surgery.
5. Teppo Järvinen, professor of orthopedics and traumatology at the University of Helsinki in Finland, led the study.
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