There has been a growing movement to “Save the Meniscus”, which of course is ideal – but not always possible. Our discussion today will focus on surgical options to address meniscus deficiency when repair is not an option including meniscus allograft transplantation (MAT) and meniscus replacement (NUsurface).

Dr. Christian Lattermann is the Chief of the Sports Medicine Service and Director of the Cartilage Repair Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is an Associate Professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Research at Mass General Brigham Sports Medicine.

Dr. Aaron Krych is a Professor of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic and Chair of the Sports Medicine Division. He is a team physician for the Minnesota Timberwolves and is a member of numerous research groups including MOCA (Metrics of Osteochondral Allografts) and ROCK (Research in Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Knee).

In this episode, we discuss:
What patients are ideal candidates for meniscus allograft transplantation (MAT)?

What are the different meniscus allograft preservation techniques and which option is the best?

What role do biologics play in MAT? Can injecting the meniscus allograft with mesenchymal stem cells limit early graft degradation and shrinkage? 

What are the different surgical techniques for MAT? What are some tips to ensure anatomic reduction and minimize graft extrusion? (Check out our Instagram - @thesportsdocspod - to see surgical images of a lateral MAT using the bone plug technique.)

What is the NuSurface meniscus replacement prosthesis? What are the indications to use this device rather than MAT?

How do patients do after meniscus replacement?