Tore both in my left leg (along with ACL and MCL). The ortho stitched both of them- it was a decision he made once he got inside the knee and could tell how bad it was. That resulted in having to wear a locked brace for a full month - now that's disruptive. If all I had was an ACL reconstruction, then I would have been crutch free within a couple of weeks. Being in a locked brace for a month results in great atrophy even with aggressive rehab. That made my entire rehabilitation that much longer.
Fast forward to 3 months later. I tried to do some jumping (volleyball, against orders) and noticed a stinging pain on the medial part of my knee. I figured it was just my torn MCL screaming at me and not quite healed. So I rested it, didn't play for another 3 months and waited for the go ahead from PT and the ortho to play.
Fast forward to a year later. I still have slicing/unpredictable pain shooting down the medial part of my knee from simply walking, turning in bed, whatever. I take the complaint to another ortho and after a couple of consults and an MRI find out that a piece of my medial meniscus had torn off incompletely and was flapping around, unbound. That little piece of padding would insert itself between my who-knows-what whenever I bended my knee and set off a nuclear reaction of pain that disabled me.
E.g. playing volleyball I would jump up normally for a spike, the meniscus piece would slide into a horrible place, then I would land - this sent a shooting pain through my leg and I would flop to the ground unable to bend my knee. I noticed that I had to massage out a new lump on the side of my knee before I could bend my knee without pain.
The new ortho went in and cut out the offending piece of meniscus, and after another round of rehab I am now essentially at 100% and pain free. There's still noticeable swelling (not unexpected after two surgeries on the same knee), regardless of activity level, but it doesn't hinder my ability to run or jump.
Bottom-line:
stitches = long rehab, much atrophy, severe effect on day to day activities
AND if it is imperfect, will need a second surgery
cutting off damaged part = quicker recovery, less potential for pain if it is imperfect.
Had stitches to both menisci in my left leg. The lateral meniscus is just fine, but the medial meniscus went crazy and made walking a flight of stairs a hazardous adventure - had to have a follow up surgery.
Either way, you'll eventually get back to 100%, if not better due to rehab exercises/routine.