Three years after a meniscal repair I started having painful clicking in my knee again. The doctor says the repair was “incomplete.” What does that mean? I may have to have another operation to repair the problem.

Incomplete healing of a torn mensicus is usually found by having a second arthroscopy.

The surgeon makes one or more puncture holes in the skin and inserts a long, thin needle called a cannula into the joint.

Tiny tools can be passed through the cannula including a miniature TV camera to take a look inside the joint. What the surgeon sees as an incomplete healing of meniscal tears is a cleft or gap at the site of the tear. It may go down 10 to 50 percent of the thickness of the meniscus.

A gap of more than 50 percent is a nonhealed repair. A second operation is often needed in such cases.