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The Procedure
An orthopedic surgeon is best equipped to determine if a patient is a good candidate for Menaflex™ collagen meniscus implant (formerly CMI®). Several factors will be assessed, including (but not limited to):
- Does the patient have an irreparable meniscus tear requiring partial meniscectomy?
- Does the meniscus damage require greater than 25% removal?
- Is the patient willing and able to follow the post-operative rehabilitation program?
Some patients with certain conditions are not good candidates for the Menaflex procedure. This includes those who have:
- PCL insufficiency of the involved knee
- Untreatable degenerative cartilage disease in the affected joint
- Malformations or malalignment of the knee
- Allergies to animal collagen or chondroitin sulfate
- Infection
- History of anaphylactoid reaction
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Relapsing polychondritis
- Degenerative osteoarthritis
- Inflammatory arthritis
For a full listing of product indications, contraindications, warnings, and precautions click here.
Once a doctor determines a patient is a good candidate for the Menaflex procedure the steps are fairly simple. A brief overview of what the patient can expect is outlined below:
- The surgeon will perform a routine diagnostic arthroscopy to confirm the meniscus injury and the appropriateness of the Menaflex procedure.
- The surgeon will prepare the meniscus by removing any damaged tissue.
- The meniscus defect will be measured, and the Menaflex scaffold will be trimmed to fit.
- The Menaflex scaffold will be placed into the knee joint through an arthroscopic portal.
- The Menaflex device will be sutured in place.
- The surgeon will close the small openings in the knee that were used to access the joint space.
Following the procedure the patient will be expected to follow a simple rehabilitation program to help ensure a full recovery and the best possible result from the surgery. Click here to download a .pdf version of the Menaflex Rehabilitation Protocol.
The above downloadable documents are viewable in Acrobat format. You must have version 3.01 or higher of the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them. To obtain this latest version, click here.
