What the Report Is About

• The article (in PTJ 97(3):354) evaluates a common clinical question: for patients with degenerative meniscal tears (or degenerative meniscal lesions), how effective is exercise-based (non-surgical) therapy compared to no exercise (or other treatments) in improving pain, strength, and function.
• It is a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials: pooling data to see overall effect sizes on key outcomes such as pain (e.g. VAS), knee joint function (patient-reported function scores), lower-limb muscle strength, and physical performance/mobility.

What the Findings Show

From the meta-analysis:

• Pain Relief: Exercise therapy significantly reduced pain compared with no-exercise controls in patients with degenerative meniscal issues.
• Muscle Strength & Physical Function: There were statistically significant gains in lower-limb muscle strength and improvements in physical function in the exercise-therapy group (versus no exercise).
• Comparisons with Surgery: Some prior evidence — referenced in the report’s discussion — suggests that over long-term follow-up, exercise therapy may yield comparable functional outcomes to surgical interventions for degenerative meniscal tears (though the meta-analysis focuses primarily on exercise vs non-exercise).
• Quality & Limitations: The RCTs included in the meta-analysis were of moderate quality; authors caution that publication bias, variability in exercise regimens, and heterogeneity in patient populations mean results should be interpreted with care.

In short: exercise therapy is effective (better than nothing) in reducing pain and improving strength/function in degenerative meniscal pathology — but not a magic bullet.

Key Takeaways for PT / Rehab Practice Owners

• Non-surgical exercise therapy works — reliably: For many patients with degenerative meniscal tears, a structured exercise-based rehab program can significantly reduce pain and improve strength/function.
• Exercise-first should be default (especially for middle-aged or older patients): Given comparable long-term outcomes (in referenced studies) versus surgery — and lower cost/risk — exercise therapy is often the preferred first-line.
• Important to standardize and monitor your protocols: Because studies varied in type of exercise, dose, duration — as a clinic owner, you should define clear rehab protocols, track outcomes (pain, strength, function), and optimize over time.
• Set realistic expectations with patients: Gains in strength and function are real but may be gradual — this helps with adherence and retention if patients understand changes won’t always be dramatic overnight.
• Use data for marketing & positioning: In a competitive PT market, showing evidence-based benefits (pain relief + functional improvement) for degenerative meniscus care can be a differentiator — especially against clinics over-promising “quick fixes.”
• Offer rehab before recommending surgery: For many patients, conservative management via exercise may avoid or delay surgery — a great value proposition for patients and clinics alike.