We studied motor recovery as shown by locomotor activities after
arthroscopic partial medial meniscectomies in seventeen men who were
twenty-five to forty-nine years old. The patients were evaluated before the
operation and two, four, and eight weeks after the operation. Control
values were obtained from twenty-two healthy men whose ages, weights, and
heights were similar to those of the patients who had had a meniscectomy.
Motion of the hip, knee, and ankle in the sagittal plane and the
electromyographic activities (as measured with surface electrodes) in five
muscles were recorded while each subject walked on a level walkway and then
ascended and descended stairs at free speeds. The results showed that
meniscal tears affect the motor-control mechanisms involved in the
submaximum locomotor activities that were studied and that these
abnormalities may persist for as long as eight weeks after a
meniscectomy.