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Asymptomatic Meniscal Tears

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Sports Injuries

Abstract

Meniscus tears can occur following a local trauma or spontaneously due to aging and degenerative processes. An asymptomatic meniscal tear finding on MRI scan is common. It ranges from ~5 % in young ages and up to 67 % in older ages. The older the patient is and the more osteoarthritic findings, the higher the prevalence. There is no evidence of a direct link between meniscal tears and knee symptoms in middle-aged and older adults, and it is evident that meniscal tears and knee symptoms are separately connected to osteoarthritis. A diagnosis of an asymptomatic meniscal tear requires careful evaluation and consideration when choosing the appropriate treatment. Once ruling out mechanical complaints and symptoms, the treatment of choice is conservative treatment because there is a lack of evidence of superiority for surgical treatments. Further research is needed for assessing and comparing the efficacy of the various possible treatments.

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Correspondence to Niv Marom .

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Marom, N., Mann, G. (2014). Asymptomatic Meniscal Tears. In: Doral, M., Karlsson, J. (eds) Sports Injuries. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_70-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_70-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-36801-1

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