The tibiae of five fresh adult human cadaver legs (amputated proximal to
the knee) were instrumented with twenty-five strain-gauge rosettes and were
tested in axial compression, simulating single-limb stance, at loads of as
much as 2450 newtons. We compared the status of the normal knee, with
menisci intact, with the status of the same knee after partial or total
medial meniscectomy. The resultant changes in strain on the cortical bone
of the tibia indicated that medial meniscectomy caused reduced compressive
strains on the whole of the lateral aspect of the tibia, while on the
medial aspect compressive strains were increased at all levels beyond
seventy millimeters distal to the joint-line; however, within fifty
millimeters of the joint-line on the medial aspect, there was a significant
reduction of compressive strains.