[Meniscus preserving interventions of the knee joint].

A meniscal lesion is the most frequent injury of the knee joint. Several experimental and clinical studies of the past 15 years pointed to the importance of the meniscus for the biomechanics of the knee joint. In particularly the posterior horn of the medial meniscus plays an important role regarding the stability of the joint. On the one hand, a total resection of the meniscus raises the risk of arthrosis, whereas on the other hand it increases the relative insufficiency of the medial capsule and collateral ligament. Because of these findings, nowadays the aim is to preserve most parts of the meniscus in case of injury. Apart from meniscopexia, longitudinal tears of the vascularised meniscus layer near the base, as well as of the so-called degeneration area, are sutured. Arthrographies performed postoperatively revealed smooth contours of the meniscus without any penetration of contrast fluid, which would have been a sign for a persistent lesion.