Before the commencement of the 2012/13 season I had the unfortunate task of dealing with 2 knee operations. The anatomical structure injured was the same in both players, that is, the meniscus (the cartilage between the thigh bone and the two shin bones, that helps with shock absorption), however the management was totally different.
The meniscus, are two C shaped cartilage like discs which act as shock absorbs of the knee. Without these C shaped discs, the large thigh bone called the Femur and the two shin bones called the Tiba and Fibula would articulate (move on) on each other, causes friction and hence a lot of pain and cause bone bruising in the long run.
A meniscus tear commonly occurs when the knee twists, with the foot anchored in the ground. There are varying degrees of Mensical Tears, ranging from small tears to severe "bucket handle" tears.
The Lions unfortunately saw two of their players undergoing Mensical surgery before the season began. The recovery time post surgery however varied significantly in both instances. This ranged from 4 weeks to 4 months respectively. Many may ask why such a significant difference in time, and the simply reason is that, if a repair to the meniscus is done, that is, stapling or stitching a torn meniscus, the healing time is much greater than shaving off the tear. The surface area of the meniscus is generally avascular, meaning it has a poor blood supply hence it will take time for a repair to heal.
The ideal surgery to do, is to repair and preserve the shock absorber, however this is also dependent on age. For a young aspiring athlete and cricketer, the repair should be the only option. If the meniscus was to be shaved and the height of the meniscus was lost, it predisposes the cricketer to having problems in the long run. The function of the meniscus would be lost and friction between bones may occur hence causing bone bruising. In the long run, it would not be the best for an extreme loading sport like cricket.
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