Need Room to Operate? Partial and Intentional Release of the Knee Medial Collateral Ligament for Medial Meniscal Surgery.

Cutting the medial collateral ligament (MCL), even in part, seems counterintuitive. However, medial meniscal surgery is not always easy, and iatrogenic articular cartilage damage can be a complication of partial meniscectomy, meniscus repair, and/or allograft transplantation in a tight knee. Fortunately, partial tears of the MCL tend to heal, and most patients do tolerate iatrogenic, partial MCL tearing without negative long-term sequelae. However, rather than accidentally tearing the MCL during medial meniscal surgery, if you need room to operate, partially release the MCL.