Back on the Court after a Meniscus Transplant

When Janayah Page suffered a knee injury during a summer basketball game, it didn’t seem all that bad at first.

“I hyperextended my knee and it hurt, but we didn’t even go get it checked right away,” she says. “We just waited a few days to see how it would be.”

But the pain didn’t go away. So she went to the emergency room at Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Cedar Crest, part of Jefferson Health. Janayah and her family soon learned how serious her injury was: She would need a meniscal transplant in her right knee.

But thanks to the team at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute, Janayah is back to her volleyball and basketball teams at Allentown’s Dieruff High School. “It feels great now,” she says.

It was a scary time for the 15-year-old Allentown athlete. When she learned she would need a transplant, “It kind of tore me apart,” she says. “I broke down after I found out. It wasn't the greatest feeling.”

The meniscus is a rubbery piece of cartilage in the knee that provides a cushion between the upper and lower leg. Sometimes a torn meniscus can be surgically repaired. But hers was too far gone.

Janayah would need two surgeries, the first to remove her damaged meniscus and the second, a couple of months later, to install the new one. 

“Her meniscus was just completely shredded,” says Mitchell Cooper, MD, with LVPG Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. It’s always best to repair the meniscus if that’s possible, he says, but in this case, a new meniscus was the only option.

Meniscal transplant is a specialized and innovative procedure, Dr. Cooper says. It starts with scans to determine the exact size needed, followed by sourcing the replacement from a supplier that provides donor tissue from cadavers.

The surgery is done arthroscopically, by threading the new meniscus into the right place, then securing it to soft tissue and bone inside the knee.

“Fortunately, Janayah was already done growing,” Dr. Cooper says. “You can’t transplant a meniscus into a growing patient.”

Physical therapy plays a key role in successful recovery from this knee surgery. In Janayah’s case, she had rehabilitation between surgeries to build up her muscle strength, then after the transplant to regain her strength and range of motion in her knee.

“Therapy can be hard, but it’s worth it,” says Jed Schoenberger, PTA, a physical therapist at LVHN Rehabilitation Services–Highland Avenue. “As therapists, we often find ourselves playing the role of motivator,” he says, noting that Janayah’s determination and hard work helped her have a successful recovery.

Alicia Kresley, DPT, another of Janayah’s therapists at the Highland Avenue location, said Janayah’s patience was a key factor too. “She had to wait two months after surgery just to be able to walk without a brace and to put full weight on her knee,” Kresley says. “That can be frustrating to any multi-sport athlete.” 

“Patients can expect the highest level of care from LVHN outpatient rehabilitation,” says Schoenberger. “In my location alone, we have a combined 300 years of experience” helping patients come back from injuries and thrive.

“I liked how all the doctors and the physical therapy people made me have confidence in getting back and pushed me to do better,” Janayah says. “They always made me believe that I would get back to my full potential and they always gave me the hope that I would get better.”

“Our experience at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute was actually pretty amazing,” says Janayah’s mom, Samantha Rubio. “They were determined to get her back on the basketball and volleyball courts. They all just worked really hard and there was great communication with Janayah and me.”