(HealthDay)—Early meniscal surgery is not superior to a strategy of exercise and education with the option of later surgery among young, active adults with meniscal tears, according to a study published online Jan. 25 in NEJM Evidence.

Søren T. Skou, Ph.D., from University of Southern Denmark in Odense, and colleagues randomly assigned 121 young adults (aged 18 to 40 years) with magnetic resonance imaging-verified meniscal tears eligible for surgery to either surgery (partial meniscectomy or meniscal repair) or 12-week supervised exercise therapy and education with the option of surgery later if needed.

The researchers found that 16 participants (26 percent) from the exercise group crossed over to surgery, while eight individuals (13%) from the surgery group did not undergo surgery. There were no statistically significant differences observed between groups from baseline to 12 months for change in Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores, nor for serious adverse events. Similar results were seen for per-protocol and as-treated analyses.

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