BVA9507812 
DOCKET NO.  93-07 121     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Cleveland, Ohio

THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability
as secondary to the appellant's service-connected left knee
disability.

2.  Entitlement to an increased rating for a postoperative left
knee meniscectomy disability, currently evaluated as 10 percent
disabling.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

C. Lawson, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The appellant, a veteran, appears to have served honorably on
active duty from September 1962 to November 1984.  The Cleveland,
Ohio Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO)
denied the benefits sought, and the appellant appealed.  The
Board remanded the case to the RO in October 1993.

REMAND

The appellant contends that his service-connected left knee would
not support him when he hit his right knee with a kick starter
and injured it in April 1992.  He has received VA evaluations and
treatment for his left knee disability in the past at the
Cincinnati and Chillicothe, Ohio, VA Medical Centers and may be
continuing to receive them.  The VA should assist him by
obtaining and incorporating into the claims folder copies of any
VA medical records of knee treatment received since 1990.
Additionally, the report of the VA orthopedic examination that
was conducted in February 1994 does not contain clinical findings
relating to the presence and extent or absence of left knee
instability, weakness, pain on motion and use, swelling,
crepitus, or locking, or as to the appellant's ability to squat
and heel and toe walk.  Another VA orthopedic examination report
with such entries reflecting clinical evaluation for these would
be helpful.

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the following
action:

1.  The RO should request the appellant to
indicate where he has received either VA
or private treatment for his left knee
disability since 1990, and the RO should
then obtain and incorporate such records
into the claims folder to the extent that
it does not already contain them.

2.  A VA orthopedic examination should be
conducted to determine the extent and
severity of the appellant's
service-connected left knee disability and
the limitations of function imposed
thereby.  All pertinent indicated tests
and studies should be conducted, and the
results thereof should be reported in
detail, in accordance with the VA
Physician's Guide for Disability
Evaluation Examinations (IB 11-56 (1985)).
Clinical findings should include, but not
necessarily be limited to, the degree
of/extent of ability to perform:  Active
and passive range of motion, squatting,
heel and toe walking, recurrent
subluxation, instability, weakness,
atrophy, pain on motion and use, swelling,
crepitus, and locking.  Description of the
appellant's gait and any limp and whether
the left knee disability requires a cane
or other prosthetic device should also be
recorded.  The claims folder and a copy
of this decision should be made
available to the orthopedist prior to
the examination.

Thereafter, the case should again be reviewed by the RO, and then
the case should be returned to this Board in accordance with the
usual appellate procedures.  No action is required of the
appellant until he is further informed.  The purpose of this
REMAND is to assist the appellant.  No inference is to be drawn
regarding the final disposition of the claim.

          SAMUEL W. WARNER
          Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals

The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures
Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___
(1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be
assigned to an individual member of the Board for a
determination.  This proceeding has been assigned to an
individual member of the Board.

Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Veterans Appeals.  This remand is in the nature of a
preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board
on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1994).