Knee injury....?!
Question: ive been having a lot of problems with my knee this year, not to happy about that. but anyways, i twisted it pretty bad in jan, went to ortho, said i had a pretty good grade 2 MCL tear. i was NWB for five weeks, then partial for a few more, and now im all the way. ive been in PT pretty much since moved to PWB and there has been no improvement in my knee, it has actually gotten a little worse. doctor ordered another MRI, i get the results on tuesday. both my ortho on PT think that i have torn my meniscus also, and that it was overlooked at the beginning. my question is, what is involved with meniscus REPAIR surgery? what happens post op? is the knee braced, if so what kind? crutches or no crutches? any info that you guys have on this would be very much appriciated. thanks.
Answers: ive been having a lot of problems with my knee this year, not to happy about that. but anyways, i twisted it pretty bad in jan, went to ortho, said i had a pretty good grade 2 MCL tear. i was NWB for five weeks, then partial for a few more, and now im all the way. ive been in PT pretty much since moved to PWB and there has been no improvement in my knee, it has actually gotten a little worse. doctor ordered another MRI, i get the results on tuesday. both my ortho on PT think that i have torn my meniscus also, and that it was overlooked at the beginning. my question is, what is involved with meniscus REPAIR surgery? what happens post op? is the knee braced, if so what kind? crutches or no crutches? any info that you guys have on this would be very much appriciated. thanks.
hey there sorry to hear about ur knee.... i know how frustrating it is when u know that something is still wrong and it doesnt seem like ur body is recovering....
i too had an injury to my MCL(in June 07) did the whole non weight bearing(NWB), partial weight bearing(PWB), full weight bearing seguence... i aslo went through several months of PT with very little improvement... had two MRIs, and three cortisone injections... they began talking about doing a scope to "see if the MRI missed anything" but then convinced me to do one more round of PT with phonos(cortisone via ultrasound) nothing(i did regain full ROM with just pain at the end points)... i was schedlued for followup on 3/19 but on 3/17 my knee collasped my knee swelled immediatly and was very tender and unstable... ended up in the ER where i was put back in an immobolizer and back NWB... had my followup a third MRI and now im waiting to see a sports injury knee specialist in Baltimore...and i have lost all but 30 degrees(very painful)ROM...
as for a meniscus REPAIR... it will depend on where the tear is located and how severe the tear is... but after u will be back to NWB for approximatly 6 weeks so that the sutures dont tear and break up the repair...followed by another 6-8 weeks of slowly regaining ur ROM(the more ROM u have going in the better u will be coming out)... u will most likely be in a hinge brace that goes from the top of ur thigh to almost ur ankle... and for the first 4-6 weeks it will be locked out straight, then it will be lock at about 30-35 degrees to allow for gentle and controled ROM... u should be able to return to sports in about 12-16 weeks...
best of luck... and hopefuly ur MRI will be clear as to what is damaged and u can get the proper treatment faster
if u have any questions u can email me
Why didn't you ask the doctor all of these questions? And what's with all the abbreviations? I have no clue what NWB means or PWB. Anyway, a meniscus tear is usually repaired through arthroscopy, followed by some physical therapy (PT), and yes, you may need a cane or crutches depending on how bad the tear was and how much the doctor needs to work with the arthroscope. Each case is different. Ask your doctor.
follow up with your orthopedist.