Knee decisions — 2004

The Board has determined that the veteran's current right and left knee disorders were incurred during his period of active service.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including obtaining relevant medical records and conducting further examinations.

The Board has determined that the veteran's left knee disability, which is rated as 20 percent disabling under Diagnostic Code 5257 (recurrent subluxation and lateral instability), warrants an increase to a 30 percent evaluation due to marked instability and deformity.

The veteran is seeking service connection for a right knee disorder. The VA has requested additional evidence and the RO will arrange for an examination to determine if his current condition is related to his military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for right ankle and right knee disabilities, finding no evidence of a diagnosed disability related to his military service.

The Board has reopened the claim of service connection for low back disability and determined that a current disability is causally related to service. The claims for left knee and right knee disabilities were not substantiated by the evidence provided.

The veteran's appeal is remanded for further development, including obtaining updated medical records and scheduling examinations to determine the impact of his disabilities on his ability to work.

The Board found that the veteran does not have any of the claimed conditions and therefore denied service connection for all issues.

The veteran's claim for an initial 10 percent rating for post-operative residuals of an ACL repair of the left knee was granted. The RO considered the severity of his service-connected disability and assigned a 10 percent rating.

The Board found that the veteran's residuals of a left knee injury were not incurred in or aggravated by his active duty service, and denied his claim for service connection.

The veteran's appeal is remanded to the RO for additional development and re-adjudication due to a failure to comply with VCAA requirements.

The RO has granted a 20 percent disability rating for the veteran's postoperative residuals, meniscectomy, right knee with synovitis. The manifestations of pain, swelling, and limitation of motion on use meet the criteria for this rating.

The Board has determined that the veteran's postoperative residuals of a torn left medial meniscus, including limitation of motion, warrant a 20 percent rating. The current 10 percent rating for cartilage removal and arthritis with limitation of motion is maintained.

The RO granted increased evaluations for the veteran's right knee disability, bilateral pes planus, and status post fracture of the right distal tibia and fibula. The initial evaluation for chronic intermittent low back strain was also granted.

The Board has determined that the veteran's right knee disability, including arthroplasty due to degenerative joint disease, was not incurred in or aggravated by active service and is not proximately due to a service-connected disability. The claim for secondary service connection for hip disorder due to left knee disability will be remanded.

The VA denied an increased rating for the veteran's service-connected right knee disability, which is currently rated at 10 percent.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain updated VA examinations and determine the current severity of his service-connected conditions, as well as whether a skin disability due to Agent Orange exposure exists. The claims for increased ratings and TDIU are also being remanded.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to VCAA requirements, including obtaining medical records and scheduling VA examinations.

The Board has remanded the veteran's claims due to incomplete records and the need for additional examinations.

The claims are being remanded to obtain additional medical records and to schedule VA examinations for the veteran's service-connected conditions. The effective date of any increased ratings will be determined based on the evidence of record.