Objective This study examined the healing of acute articular cartilage injuries under the influence of meniscectomy.Methods New Zealand white rabbits were used for experiment. Cylindrical articualr cartilage defect with exposure of subcondral bone was surgically generated on the bilateral medial femoral condyli. The meniscus of the right knee was removed while the left knee was used as contralateral control by preserving its meniscus. The healing of articular cartilage (AC) defects was evaluated gross morphologically and histologically using both light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results Gross morphologically, the surface of articular cartilage defects in the contralateral control knee looked normal in structure apart from its pale appearance at 10 weeks; while the right knees showed irregular surface and some clefts and loss of AC surface layer histologically, articular-like cartilage was formed in the repaired defect, which might be regenerated by condrocytes proliferation originated from subcondrol bone in the contralateral control knee at 10 weeks. In contrast, there was degenerative sign of the repaired articular-like cartilage in the right knees, which was characterized with surface clefts (fibrilillation) and detachment of surface AC. TEM showed many apoptotic chondrocytes in the experiment group, while there was normal cellular structure found in the contralateral controlat 10 weeks. Conclusion Meniscectomy was able to induce apoptosis of condrocytes, surface clefts and detachment of the repaired articular cartilage defect. Meniscus is a very important anatomical structure, which execute relevant biological function, i.e. by providing mechanical stability to the knee joint to ensure repair of the acute articular cartilage injury.