Meniscus :

General or local? - - Posted by daipp (daipp), 25 January 2005

After an accident at work on the 8th of November 2004, this morning I was finall diagnosed as having a torn meniscus which they will repair - (at the moment, I know nothing further).

The consultant is referring me to a different consultant who specialises in "Knees" so when I asked him two questions, he was unable to answer:-

1) How long do I wait - (I have found out since, that this will be at least three months).

2) Can the operation be done under local anesthetic (he initially said "Yes", but then said he wasn't sure).

My question to everyone here is, has anyone had the surgery done under a local and if so do they have any comments on the operation etc.

David
Posted by bwalling (bwalling), 26 January 2005

I believe it's up to the surgeon.  I was hoping for local so I could watch, but my surgeon said he preferred general.  He said it in such a way that I figured it wasn't so much a preference as the only way he was going to do it.
Posted by andrewc (AndrewC), 26 January 2005

Spinal Anaesthetic (similiar to an epidural) is the usual option to general (although I believe Locals have been used on the odd occasion) and it basically puts your whole lower body to sleep.

I had one for my recent arthroscopy and found it pretty easy. The only bit I wasn't too keen on was the needle in the spine!

Good Luck

This old Forum was so valuable that we have kept it as an archive. It is just for reference. If you want to ask questions or offer advice, there is also a current Bulletin Board which you can access from our home page.

Hunting for information is a slow process. browsing through these topics will probably raise a lot of questions in your mind. Don't forget that there is a whole site behind these forums - just click the 'KNEEguru' home button at the top left of your page when you are ready to access it.