Comparing Surgery Versus Standard Physical Therapy in Treating People With a Meniscal Tear and Osteoarthritis
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Where
- Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Nashville, New York, Rochester, and St Louis, United StatesSee the 7 sites
- Trial code
- Status
- Completed
- People taking part
- 351 people enrolled
- Started
- May 2008
- Ended
- Dec 2025
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Arthroscopic partial menisectomy
- Standard physical therapy
- Postoperative rehabilitative physical therapy
- Record updated
- 18 May 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 45 years and older
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 19 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- OA symptoms lasting at least 1 month and managed with medications, activity limitations, and/or physical therapy
- At least one symptom consistent with a torn meniscus. Symptoms may include clicking, catching, popping, giving way, pain with pivot or torque, episodic pain, and/or pain that is acute and localized to one joint line
- Available knee X-ray (within 6 months) and MRI (within 3 years)
- Evidence of osteophyte formation or cartilage fissure, tear, or loss on a knee MRI OR plain radiographic evidence of osteophyte formation or joint space narrowing
- Evidence of a meniscal tear (tear extending to surface of meniscus) on a knee MRI
- Willingness to undergo random assignment and sign an informed consent
Who cannot take part
- Injection with viscosupplementation in the affected knee in the 4 weeks before study entry
- Any medical contraindications to surgery or physical therapy
- Prior surgery on an affected knee
- Unable or unwilling to attend physical therapy sessions at designated locations or in the community
- Inflammatory diseases (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, gout, pseudogout)
- Radiographic chondrocalcinosis (a condition in which there are deposits of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate [CPPD] crystals in one or more joints that eventually result in damage to the affected joints) AND acute symptomatic pseudogout
- Chronically locked knee
- Kellgren-Lawrence Grade IV status, indicating advanced OA and usually the need for total knee replacement
- Contraindication to MRI
- Both knees are symptomatic for meniscal tears and a candidate for bilateral APMs
- Pregnancy or possible pregnancy
- Claim filed for worker's compensation
- Unable or unwilling to give informed consent
Where in United States
- Brigham and Women's HospitalBoston, United StatesNo longer taking part
- Rush University Medical CenterChicago, United StatesNo longer taking part
- Cleveland ClinicCleveland, United StatesNo longer taking part
- Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, United StatesNo longer taking part
- Hospital for Special SurgeryNew York, United StatesNo longer taking part
- Mayo ClinicRochester, United StatesNo longer taking part
- Washington University in St. Louis, School of MedicineSt Louis, United StatesNo longer taking part
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
There are two cartilage structures, called menisci, in each knee joint. A torn meniscus can be caused by a traumatic injury or aging-related degeneration. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of arthritis that is caused by the breakdown and eventual loss of another type of cartilage that covers the end of bones within a joint. In people who have knee OA, a meniscal tear can easily lead to disability. This study will compare the effectiveness of two recommended treatments, surgery and physical therapy, for people with a torn meniscus and knee OA.
The 2 groups in the trial
- SurgicalTreatment being tested
Participants will undergo arthroscopic partial menisectomy (APM) surgery and offered postoperative rehabilitative physical therapy.
Treatment: Arthroscopic partial menisectomy and Postoperative rehabilitative physical therapy
- NonoperativeExisting treatment, for comparison
Participants will undergo standard physical therapy that will include strengthening and stretching sessions one to three times a week for 8 weeks.
Treatment: Standard physical therapy
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Partial Meniscectomy Versus Nonoperative Management in Meniscal Tear With OA: A Randomized Controlled Trial (MeTeOR)
- Record updated
- 18 May 2026