Nicholas Dodds

 Medial Plica Syndrome

Knees are funny things – most people know a little bit about cartilage, some a bit more about ligaments but what about a plica?

When I first developed pain along the inside of my left knee, there was no obvious cause – other than cycling quite a bit. A succession of GPs and physiotherapists suggested a variety of diagnoses. The only way to stop the pain from recurring was not to exercise – not a satisfactory solution! Given the persistent nature of the pain and having followed the usual advice, I feared my painful knee was here for good.

One day on my commute I was knocked off my bicycle, hurting both knees. The accident presented me with an opportunity and I was referred to Mr McDermott. The results of an MRI scan showed there was nothing structurally wrong with my knees, which was good news. However, I was told that MRI scans don’t show everything, and after carefully discussing my options I chose surgery to find out once and for all if there was something that could be done with my left knee.

Surgery confirmed that the knee was in a good state, but with one rather notable exception; I had a large (medial) plica inside the joint. It was explained that this is basically a remnant of foetal tissue, like a shelf sticking out from the lining of the knee. The plica had been rubbing inside my knee, becoming inflamed and painful – I had been suffering from ‘plica syndrome’.

The plica was removed through keyhole surgery (a knee arthroscopy), as a simple small day case procedure. Thankfully, the surgery resolved the source of my pain.

May 2012