The purposes of this study were to report degenerative changes that coexist with a symptomatic torn discoid lateral meniscus in adults and to analyze the factors associated with the accompanied degenerative changes. From 1997 to 2008, 329 knees in the 305 patients were included. Associations between the status of the meniscus and the coexisting degenerative changes on the images and the arthroscopic findings were statistically analyzed. Marginal osteophyte was seen on conventional radiography in 118 patients (36%). Ninety patients (27%) had arthroscopically confirmed chondral lesion. Age, duration of symptoms, the type of meniscus, the type of tear and the magnetic resonance image classification were associated with the formation of the marginal osteophyte and chondral lesion on univariate analysis (P < 0.05). After conducting multivariate analysis, the type of tear and magnetic resonance image classification had a statistically significant association with the severity of marginal osteophyte and chondral lesion (P < 0.05).