Recovery time will be totally dependent on whether they repair the meniscus or cut it out. Repairs take several months to rehab while a trim will only take a couple weeks.
While it may seem to be a no brainer to just cut it out, you have to factor in the long term ramifications of missing cartilage in the knee. I had a total knee replacement at age 45 due to arthritis that was made much worse because I had no cartilage in my knee.
Good luck to your DD @Orange Socks, knee issues suck! uncdrew nailed it, I tore my medial meniscus in my left knee and had it scoped, it was a disaster! I’m not your poster boy for happy knee surgery!
Wishing your DD the best of luck as she deals with this OrangeSocks, hopefully she looks back on this as simply a bump in the road with no lasting negative impact.
I was a catcher, lots of tendonitis prior to my tear, was never the same after the repair. This was after years of abuse of my knees and cortisone just to get through double headers. I am paying for all the abuse now later in life. I am not even 50 and I have multiple knee replacements in my future. Doing what I can to hold them off as long as possible so I can maybe have the replacement once and not twice in both knees. Suparz is a wonderful product that has delayed the inevitable replacement for a while.
Based on my experience it will depend on the location, severity and if it has "bucket handles" where the edges curl up. I've lived with one for about 13 years now, I'm 49. Ortho said it wasn't worth surgery if I could live with it so I did. Has never gotten worse. I've had several guys I work with get them repaired with mixed results however your dd has youth on her side and that always helps with healing.