Doctors say weight is not a factor when having knee repair surgery

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Weight shouldn't be a major factor in deciding whether a person should have knee repair surgery.

A team at Ohio State University followed more than 400 patients who had a torn meniscus surgically repaired.

Some surgeons feel being overweight lowers the chance of success, but there was no difference, whether they had a BMI under 25 or all the way up to 35.

In fact, repairing it makes sense for controlling future weight.

"Trying to save that meniscus saves that cushion, prevents some of the arthritic changes down the road within their knee and it can be very beneficial for them," said Dr. David Flanigan.

The Ohio State doctors hope their study will open up the surgery to more people.

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