
How long is recovery for bucket handle tear?
The recovery from a bucket handle tear surgery can take several weeks. After surgery, you will need to refrain from putting weight on the knee while it heals. You will most likely require the use of crutches and will have to wear a knee immobilizing brace.
What is a bucket handle injury?
A bucket handle injury is a type of mesenteric injury of the intestine. The intestine itself separates from the mesentery, leaving a devascularized segment of bowel that looks like the handle on a bucket (get it?). These injuries can occur after blunt trauma to the abdomen.
Can a torn Mensicus heal without surgery?
Recovery will take about 6 to 8 weeks if your meniscus tear is treated conservatively, without surgery. The time varies, depending on: The meniscus is a C-shaped band of cartilage that goes around the knee joint and cushions the junction of your thighbone (femur) and shinbone (tibia).
How to fix torn meniscus?
- Knee arthroscopy repair: The surgeon makes small incisions in your knee, and inserts a tiny camera into the knee. ...
- Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy: The surgeon removes a part of the meniscus in order to restore knee function.
- Arthroscopic total meniscectomy: The surgeon removes the entire meniscus.

Can a bucket handle meniscus tear heal itself?
A bucket handle tear will usually not go back into its normal position on its own. It often needs our help. Let's dive deeper. The majority of these bucket tears can be fixed or sutured back together.
How do you treat a bucket handle meniscus tear?
Arthroscopy with Circumferential Compression Stitch is the best option for the treatment of Bucket Handle meniscus tear. The use of stitches to align the edges and uniformly compress them together during the healing process to restore their the meniscus anatomical orientation.
Does a bucket handle meniscus tear require surgery?
In most cases, a bucket handle tear requires surgery to correct. However, if you are not feeling significant pain after a tear, your doctor may not recommend surgery.
How serious is a bucket handle meniscus tear?
Meniscus tears are a common injury to the knee and cause pain, swelling, and limited mobility. One of the most serious types of meniscus tears is called a bucket-handle meniscus tear.
Will walking on a torn meniscus make it worse?
Continuing to walk on the affected leg can aggravate your symptoms, making pain and stiffness worse in as little as a few days. Plus, suffering a torn meniscus may also increase your risk of complications, like developing osteoarthritis in that knee.
How long after bucket handle meniscus surgery can I walk?
Arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus (meniscectomy) It may take 4-5 months for full healing. The patient should be able to bear weight on the knee while standing or walking, immediately after surgery. Crutches will be necessary for 2-7 days after surgery.
Can you walk with a bucket handle meniscus tear?
You may still be able to walk with a bucket handle meniscal tear, and in fact, many athletes continue to play with a bucket handle meniscal tear. With bucket handle tears the meniscus can flip back into place and feel good for some time, but it will typically flip back forward with one wrong painful move.
What percentage of meniscus tears are repairable?
Conclusions: Our study concludes that, according to current standard indications, 34.9% of all meniscal injuries offer the potential for repair. Where the injury is also accompanied by anterior cruciate ligament damage, the proportion of repairable tears rises to 55.6%.
Bucket Handle Meniscus Tear Surgery Failure Rates
Doctors at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Sports Medicine , New York University Langone Medical Center, Hospital for Joint Dise...
Hemi-Bucket Tears – Risk of Non-Healing Surgery
Doctors at Duke University Medical Center described a type of meniscus flap tear resembling a bucket-handle tear, named a “hemi-bucket-handle.” 1....
Is It Not A Bucket Handle Meniscus Tear After All? Is It Ligament Damage? The Need to Treat and Access The Whole Knee
Dr. Poh Lye Paul See wrote of a case study in the Singapore Medical Journal where injury to the meniscal ligaments may often confusion to the diagn...
Is Bucket Handle Meniscus Tear Surgery Necessary For Every Patient?
Doctors at the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine describe the case of a 71-year-old-pati...
If You Have Questions About Bucket Handle Meniscus Tear Repair and Treatment Options
1 Moses MJ, Wang DE, Weinberg M, Strauss EJ. Clinical outcomes following surgically repaired bucket-handle meniscus tears. The Physician and Sports...
What is a bucket handle meniscus tear?
Meniscus tears are a common injury to the knee and cause pain, swelling, and limited mobility. One of the most serious types of meniscus tears is called a bucket-handle meniscus tear. Most people are never aware they have a meniscus. That is—until they injure their meniscus. Volker Schlichting / EyeEm / Getty Images.
Why is the bucket handle tear called that?
A bucket-handle tear gets its name because the torn segment of the meniscus pulls away forming a handle shaped segment of damaged meniscus tissue.
Why is my knee locked?
1 A locked knee occurs when the knee cannot fully straighten from a bent position. Because the bucket handle fragment of meniscus cartilage is displaced into the front of the joint, it prevent s the knee from fully straightening . Locked Knee.
How many menisci are there in the knee?
In each knee, there are two menisci, one on the inner side of the knee (medial meniscus), and one on the outer side of the knee (lateral meniscus). The meniscus functions to help distribute force across the joint and is important in cushioning and protecting the cartilage of the knee. A bucket handle tear of the meniscus occurs on ...
How long does it take to heal a meniscus?
Healing of the meniscus repair requires a much longer rehabilitation that often requires 4 months or longer to return to sports activities. 4 . Following surgery, most patients will undergo physical therapy and rehabilitation to regain lost mobility of the joint and strength in the extremity.
How long does it take to recover from a torn meniscus?
One advantage of removing the torn meniscus is that the recovery is much faster with most athletes returning to sports activities within 6 weeks. 3 . Meniscus Repair: A meniscus repair is performed to sew together the torn part of the meniscus back in its proper position.
Is meniscus surgery an emergency?
Surgery is not an emergency but should be performed as soon as possible so that the knee can bend and straighten normally. There are two options for how to manage the torn meniscus: Meniscectomy Partial: This is a surgery performed to remove the damaged portion of the meniscus .
What to do if you have a bucket handle meniscus tear?
You have a bucket handle meniscus tear. A look at an MRI convinces the doctor to offer a recommendation to have suture repair surgery (the doctor will stitch up the tear) as op posed to meniscus tissue removal surgery.
Is the ACL so strong that it leads to a degenerative meniscus?
Unfortunately, the ACL was so strong it leads to a degenerative meniscus condition including a bucket handle meniscus tear that my orthopedist said was unrepairable. The flap was ground down to nothing and there was nothing to suture.
What is a bucket handle meniscus tear?
What is Bucket Handle meniscus tear? The meniscus is a cartilage present in the knee joint. The knee is composed of two menisci, one located in the inner side of the knee (medial meniscus) and one located in the outer side of the knee (lateral meniscus). The meniscus function is to help distribute the force across the joint.
Why do meniscus tears occur?
Meniscus tears commonly take place after twisting injuries such as planting the knee and foot down forcefully and turning too quickly. Other causes of meniscus tear include a misstep that causes a twisting at the knee or squatting. Some patients may present with a meniscus tear due to arthritis.
Why do knee joints rub against each other?
Patients with arthritis will present with bones of the knee joint that rub against each other creating irregular and rough surfaces that will increase the risk of Bucket Handle meniscus tears. When to see the Orthopaedic Surgeon?
How do you know if you have a meniscus tear?
Common symptoms include pain, feeling as though the knee is catching, swelling, instability of the knee, and buckling of the knee. Patients may have episodes where the Bucket Handle meniscus tear flips back into place and will experience periods of no symptoms and will feel normal.
Can a knee arthroscopy repair a meniscus tear?
Meniscus tear are typically repaired through partial menisectomy, but this is not the best option for Bucket Handle meniscus tear.
How to repair a torn meniscus?
Ideally, a doctor will be able to surgically repair your torn meniscus. They usually do this through knee arthroscopy. This involves making small incisions and inserting instruments into the incisions to access the knee joint and repair the damaged area. They’ll sew the damaged parts back together, if possible.
What is a bucket handle tear?
A bucket handle tear is a type of meniscus tear that affects your knee. According to the journal Arthroscopy Techniques, an estimated 10 percent of all meniscal tears are bucket handle tears. These meniscus tear types most commonly affect young men. While there are several different types of meniscus tears, the bucket handle tear is traditionally ...
Why do meniscus tears occur?
Meniscal tears are most commonly due to twisting injuries, such as planting the knee and foot down forcefully and changing weight or turning too quickly. The meniscus typically starts to weaken when you’re in your 30s, making people this age and older more vulnerable to injury.
What is the pain of a bucket handle?
The other symptom that often accompanies a bucket handle tear specifically is a locked knee joint. This occurs when your joint will not fully straighten after it’s bent.
What does it mean when your knee is stuck in a bucket handle?
The name “bucket handle” refers to how a portion of the meniscus tears and can flip over like the handle on a bucket. Sometimes, a torn meniscus portion may flip over and become stuck in the knee joint. The chief symptom of a meniscal tear is pain and discomfort. Sometimes the pain may be generalized to your knee or along each edge ...
What is the difference between medial and lateral meniscus?
Your medial meniscus is C-shaped and protects the inside portion of your knee. Your lateral meniscus is U-shaped and rests on the outer half of your knee joint. Each meniscus helps reduce the overall pressure on your knee joint. However, menisci are subject to tear. A bucket handle tear is a full-thickness tear of the meniscus ...
How long does it take to heal a bucket handle tear?
Because most bucket handle tears occur in young, healthy individuals, surgical repairs can help keep you active and pain-free. While recovery can take several months, you can often return to your full physical activities with time and physical therapy exercises. Last medically reviewed on July 30, 2018.
Can a bucket handle meniscus tear heal on its own?
It is a common type of tear in young athletes. It almost always requires surgery for a few reasons. On one hand, it doesn’t heal on its own.
Can a surgeon repair a bucket handle meniscus tear?
Fortunately, it is often possible for a surgeon to repair a bucket-handle meniscus tear by placing sutures or anchors. It is a longer recovery than a partial meniscectomy, but if the repair heals, the patient maintains the entire meniscus to serve as a shock absorber in the future. Also read:
Where is the first all-inside suture placed?
After reduction, the first all-inside suture is placed in horizontal configuration at the junction of the posterior horn and body of the medial meniscus. Both horizontal and vertical configurations are used for subsequent all-inside sutures for the repair.
Can you repair a bucket handle meniscus tear?
The limitations to all-inside repair of bucket handle meniscus tears are the high costs of each meniscus repair device, which may influence the number of stitches placed to repair the meniscus tear. Another limitation is the technical learning curve for the competent use of the meniscus repair device.
Heading to Fort Worth
My parents live over an hour away from Fort Worth, so it felt like the longest drive ever. We finally got there, and they wheeled me into a room. They started me on some pain killers to help me for the moment. The doctor came in and checked my motion around the ankle. She said, it looked like a meniscus tear, but we would get an MRI.
I am Thankful
I am so thankful for good doctors and nurses at Harris downtown Fort Worth. They helped me so much! I am so thankful for my family too. Thank you to Jesus for getting me through this horrible pain, I would not survived without His love and comfort.
Controlling Rheumatoid Arthritis
This story is written for anyone who has RA too. RA is so damaging to joints. It is important to go to a rheumatologist to get treated often. Take the medicine they recommend. The most important thing about having RA is controlling it. You don’t want joint damage on top of bad pain!
