Meniscus cartilage

The meniscus cartilage or 'semi-lunar' cartilage is the shock absorber of the knee, sandwiched between the thighbone and shinbone.

knee joint showing the meniscus
A crescentic meniscus sits between the tibia and the rounded end of the femur on either side of the joint.

 

Terminology issue

The correct name is 'meniscus', but unfortunately sportspeople persist in talking about the 'cartilage' when in fact they mean the meniscus. This can cause confusion with the white gristle that covers the ends of bones, which is also called cartilage (hyaline cartilage, joint cartilage or articular cartilage).

Synonyms: 
Meniscus
Semi-lunar cartilage
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Related Content

Introduction to the knee meniscus

An overview of the meniscus or 'knee-cartilage'.

Clearing up confusion about knee cartilage

Video discussing why people mix up the two kinds of tissue referred to as 'cartilage'.

Meniscus from top

Another view of the 'knee cartilages'.

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CLINICAL PUBLICATIONS

Materials and structures used in meniscus repair and regeneration: a review. Vadodaria K, Kulkarni A, Santhini E and Vasudevan P. Biomedicine (Taipei). 2019 Mar; 9(1): 2.

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