Discoid Lateral Meniscus

Katelyn went to see an orthopedic doctor today because of knee problems. For as long as we can remember, her knees have popped, especially the left knee. At her 6 year check-up the pediatrician commented about her knees popping everytime he bent them. He said they shouldn't do that! At that time, she hadn't really complained much about them hurting, so the pediatrician just said we'd watch it and may need to see an orthopedic doctor at some point. Over the past few months, Katelyn has had a couple of times when her left knee would hurt her so bad that she wouldn't want to put any weight on it. She'd limp around for a day or two. Most recently this happened last week. Her pediatrician wanted to see her and x-rayed her knee. Everything looked normal on the x-rays, but once again, they told us her knees shouldn't pop like that. They referred us to an orthopedic doctor. Our appointment was today. Immediately upon reading Katelyn's info and talking to us for just a few seconds, the doctor said he thought he knew the problem since there's really only one reason a 6-year old's knees should pop. He examined her and said her problem is discoid lateral meniscus. This is a problem she's had since birth and occurs in 1%-3% of the population. The meniscus in her knees should be more ring shaped, and hers are more disc shaped. She actually has too much stuff in there! She actually has it in both knees, but her left knee appears to be worse. The doctor wanted x-rays just to rule out anything else. As before, the x-rays were completely normal, which is what the doctor expected. In order to confirm the diagnosis, Katelyn will have to have an MRI, and in order to have the MRI, she'll have to be sedated. Upon confirmation of the diagnosis, we'll schedule knee surgery for her. It will be arthroscopic surgery and the doctor will go in there and remove the extra stuff.

In the mean time, Katelyn is supposed to do what she'd normally do. She's not going to make it worse by using her knees. So as long as the pain isn't too bad, she can continue to play basketball, jump around, and just be a kid!