My Successful ACL Surgery
I completely tore my right ACL playing "touch" football on Halloween weekend 10.30.05. I heard the infamous "pop" and felt searing pain and went down. Hospital x-rays were negative for any break and two weeks later I was FINALLY able to get an MRI. The results revealed the complete tear. A friend had suggested a well-known orthopaedic physician at the time but he was booked solid so I scheduled with another doctor in the group. This doctor went into "some" detail (not enough) regarding the MRI. He discussed the pros and cons of surgery, auto versus allograft, as well as thoughts on natural rehab. He said there was no rush to fix it and he wrote a script for PT and I began my efforts to rehab without surgery. I have a gym membership and am an avid proponent of weight lifting and cardio. I was able to start leg strength training a few weeks after the injury and each week progressively gained muscle and strength. I also did extensive reading on ACL injuries, non surgical rehab and reconstructive surgery. During the entire time of rehab I was not able to bend my leg back and it felt like it was being impeded by something. PT suggested that it was still inflammation impeding my range of motion. I saw the first doctor two weeks later after the initial appointment. PT had reported to him that I was in a brace now and pushing to get back to being more active. At that time he started nudging me more towards having the surgery and that the PT department was concerned that I would do further damage. Again he said no rush and that he wanted to see me again in six weeks.
At that time I decided to seek a second opinion and called to schedule an appointment with my original choice of physician. As luck would have it he had a cancellation and an appointment opened up for me. What a difference it makes when you seek a second opinion! Tom spent a good 45 minutes with me reviewing everything. In reviewing the MRI he pointed out the obvious ACL tear, but also showed where I had some bone micro fractures, which explained the still tender left side of the knee. He then showed me a very obvious meniscus (cartilage) tear. He likened it to a hangnail and said that the tear was the primary culprit of my inability to bend my leg all the way back. Gee, now why didn’t the first doctor catch that? He explained how he performed ACL surgery and I was already sold on proceeding after that. He went on to explain that I needed to have this done and that I ran the risk of serious damage if I did not. Take that with a grain of salt if you will but for me, I knew my knee was not at all stable AND, I wanted to have the best use of it and the least amount of probable further damage.
The surgery was on Monday 2/6/06 and I was there at 6 a.m. Blood was drawn for testing. The knee area was shaved. I was given a glucose IV for some dehydration. I was wheeled into the O.R. around 8 a.m. The glucose IV was replaced with the sedative IV. They added some anti-nausea to the mix for good measure. I was given two nerve blocks, femoral and sciatic in my right groin, which completely numbed my leg. I was pleased that the doctor told me that I would only have local anesthesia and just a “twilight sleep” IV. I don’t deal well with general anesthesia. The sedative kicked in and I was lights out very quickly.
For the surgery, the knee was "scoped" in two places for the doc to take a peek to see the damage. He did an approximate 15% meniscectomy (removal) of the damaged cartilage. An inch long incision was made on the left side of my lower knee and the doctor drilled a tunnel from the tibia and up into the femur for which to place the new ligament. He used a cadaver ligament (allograft), which was affixed to both bones with screws. I woke up in a recovery room and was actually feeling great. My leg was numb and in a brace. I was home by 11 a.m.
It’s now been a month since the surgery and I am walking fairly well and have minimal swelling and scarring. I was back at the gym starting beginning week two and started on the exercise bike at the end of that week. I continue with PT once a week and supplement that with exercises at home and working out at the gym. Both my doctor and PT told me that the ligament is at its weakest at around week 6 so I still am extremely careful not to pivot or make any lateral movements while my foot is planted.
I think there are several reasons as to why my surgery and subsequent rehab and recovery have gone this well. One is my surgeon. Two is the length of time I took between injury and surgery. Three is the fact that I had a cadaver graft and not my own patellar or any other auto-graft. It made for a quicker recovery. Four is the Polar Ice Kit that I purchased. I kept my knee constantly iced with this and slept with it on for two weeks solid. I highly recommend it.
PICTURES
All but the last pictures were taken with saline flooding the knee joint. The first set of pictures is of healthy cartilage. Set 2 is where the surgeon probed and found the torn cartilage or meniscus and removed approximately 15% of the cartilage. Set 3 has a picture of the torn ACL, which is just lying there in a big blob. Set 3 also includes a picture of the cadaver ACL (allograft). Set 4 is a picture of the new ACL in my knee without the saline.
The other pictures are X-rays of the knee showing the setscrews, which hold the new ACL in place. If you look carefully you can see the drill path, which runs through both the femur and tibia.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/th_cart1.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/th_cart2.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...er/th_ACL1.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...er/th_ACL2.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...er/th_leg1.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...er/th_leg2.jpg
