Has anyone ever had knee problems ?

[Ms Grumpy]

OK, maybe this is something weird to ask, but for the last 10 days I have been dealing with an injury that my daughter Lauren got while jumping on a trampoline. Yesterday she got an MRI and today we went to the Ortho doctor. The results, not good. She has to have surgery. This is what the MRI results said.

Examination demonstrates extensive edema noted within the lateral femoral condyle the posterior tibial plateau and also edema noted within the proximal fibular head although no definite fracture lines are not seen. There is a lesser degree of edema noted within the medial femoral condyle. There is some mild increased signal intensity within the femoral attachment of the fibular collateral ligament consistent with partial tear: in addition there may be some increased signal intensity within the popliteus tendon at its femoral attachment.

There is a large displaced radial tear of the posterior horn/root of the lateral meniscus. In addition there is increased signal intensity within the posterior horn of the medial meniscus at its posterior meniscal capsular attachment consistent with peripheral meniscal capsular region tear. The PCL is intact. The ACL however demonstrates complete disruption with difficulty identifying any fibers. There is a large associated joint effusion.

Impression:
1. Complete ACL disruption
2. There is associated extensive bone bruising within the lateral femoral condyle, the lateral tibial plateau, fibular head and to a lesser degree the medial femoral condyle without definite fracture lines seen.
3. There is a large displaced radial type tear of the posterior horn/root region of the lateral meniscus.
4. There is a vertical meniscal capsular tear in the posterior horn medial meniscus.
5. Probably partial strain or tear of the fibular collateral ligament and popliteus tendons at the femoral attachment.

From what the doctor said today, her knee is in pretty rough shape. He said her injury is what most pro football players have. I have an appointment with a surgeon on Wednesday morning. I just wondered if anyone has ever had this type of injury, or has knowledge of what I need to make sure is done for my daughter.

Thank you.

[flash]

No knee injury for me so Im of no help.

[Ms Grumpy]

Lauren kept telling me her knee felt "loose". Now I know why, half her tendons are torn and not connected.

[flash]

I hope they get her fixed up real soon .

[shadowgray396]

Sorry to hear about Lauren. A friends daughter has had a simular surgery, help her and then she tore it again. You have to give it enough time to heal. Will require physical therapy to strengthen it.

[Ms Grumpy]

I know Ray. This is going to be a long, slow process. And for Lauren I don't think that it has sunk in how much time and effort this is going to take to get her better. We were going to plan a trip next month, but now everything is on hold til we find out when she will have her surgery.

Aren't children wonderful ???? I did say that with a smile on my face.

[shadowgray396]

Originally Posted by Ms Grumpy

Aren't children wonderful ???? I did say that with a smile on my face.

Yes they are. They are our pride and joy no matter what.

[Hank70SS]

Lynda had a similar injury, minus bruising of the bone. She tore the meniscus, don't recall which one and blew out her ACL. They operated to clean up the meniscus but did not repair the ACL. She was considerably older than Lauren when this happened. They said if she was younger or active in sports they would recommend repairing the ACL. Her knee would buckle on occasion because the ACL was gone. She road a stationary bike, walked on a treadmill and did other exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee. She hasn't had a problem with that knee for years now, of course she has torn the meniscus in the other knee twice now.

The meniscus repair can be relatively minor depending on the amount of damage. Unfortunately an MRI can't tell you how much damage was done, they have to go in and look. Usually they go in and trim off the torn piece and smooth it out. Some pain but you can be back up and around in a day or two, followed with some therapy. Building up the muscles around the knee keeps it stable which helps to distribute the weight evenly between the lateral and medial meniscus. That's what those hinged knee braces do, keep the knee straight so one meniscus is not bearing all the weight.

The ACL is a different issue. The ACL is 2 ligaments, like an X. There's also the PCL. Together they pull the knee joint together and help stabilize it. With a torn ACL the joint can be sloppy and not operate smoothly. Typically they remove a portion of the patella ligaments to rebuild the ACL. Because of her young age I'm sure they'll want to repair it. The recovery time for that is much longer, up to 6 months with lots of therapy. Fortunately she is young and should recover quicker than an older person.

I'm sure the surgeon can give you a much better explanation of what's wrong and what they need to do. Hope all goes well, she'll need to work hard, lot's of therapy but should be good as new this summer.

Best of luck to Lauren.

[Ms Grumpy]

Hank, thank you so much for your explanation. From what I remember from the doctors visit she is pretty much going to have everything that you said. I will know more when we see the surgeon on Wed. I saw the pics from the MRI, actually took some pretty good ones with my phone, they did not look pretty. I was standing in the doctors office looking at a drawing of a healthy knee and then at the MRI pics. It wasn't pretty. My oldest daughter is dating a former football player who told me that the physical therapy is probably the most important part of the recovery. But, before I get too worked up I should wait to see the surgeon. Just keeping positive thoughts. Again, thank you for your explanation.

[Hank70SS]

Nancy, write down all the questions you think of for the surgeon. You tend to forget once you get in the Dr's office. Your daughter's boyfriend is right about the therapy, that's true for any ortho surgery. She'll need to strengthen the muscles around the knee to stabilize it and protect it from further injury.

It's kind of scary but she's young and hopefully will recover with no long term affects. I was already old when I fractured my pelvis in 3 places. It took a good 6 months before all the pain was gone. I did the therapy and remained as active as I could. I have zero affects from it now. Hope all goes well for her.