why do knee ligament injuries don’t heal by itself? eli5
In: 17
Lack of vasculature in the tissue. For example the meniscus has 3 zones defined by blood supply mostly.
outer meniscus: has blood vessels, tears to this can be sewn and heal entirely.
Middle meniscus: diffuse blood supply, i.e no blood specific vessels but blood gets there from the surrounding outer meniscus through diffusion, usually this can also be sewn but takes longer to heal and may not always heal.
Inner meniscus is basically just cartilage with no blood flow and if a tear occurs here in the white zone then it basically needs to be resected/debrided so that it doesn’t cause further irritation and damage in the knee.
So whether something can heal is mostly decided by whether blood can get there and carry nutrients/oxygen to it.
Another similar example is the scaphoid bone in the wrist. It has poor blood circulation and usually fractures to this bone taken long while to heal if at all due to the lack of direct blood flow.
Lack of vasculature in the tissue. For example the meniscus has 3 zones defined by blood supply mostly.
outer meniscus: has blood vessels, tears to this can be sewn and heal entirely.
Middle meniscus: diffuse blood supply, i.e no blood specific vessels but blood gets there from the surrounding outer meniscus through diffusion, usually this can also be sewn but takes longer to heal and may not always heal.
Inner meniscus is basically just cartilage with no blood flow and if a tear occurs here in the white zone then it basically needs to be resected/debrided so that it doesn’t cause further irritation and damage in the knee.
So whether something can heal is mostly decided by whether blood can get there and carry nutrients/oxygen to it.
Another similar example is the scaphoid bone in the wrist. It has poor blood circulation and usually fractures to this bone taken long while to heal if at all due to the lack of direct blood flow.
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