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6 years ago
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Suspect PCL Tear
I'm hoping you can share this on your blog and your readers can give me some advice.
I injured my PCL in a collision on the soccer field. I fell hard on my bent knee and had immediate pain. To my surprise I was able to get up and jog and played a few more minutes before coming out.
That was 2 and a half months ago. My knee hasn't gotten much better since then. The most pain is in sprinting and cutting hard, kneeling with my knee fully bent, and pulling down on my foot like taking off a shoe. I finally went to the doctor who suspected a torn PCL due to some movement and possibly a torn meniscus. He prescribed an MRI which I had and returned today for consultation. The diagnosis is a high grade tear and he suggests surgery. I can see on the MRI image what looks like a pretty bad tear, but not complete. I'm surprised because the pain doesn't seem that extreme and I'm not having a lot of instability.
After reading the comments I think I will get a second opinion. My main questions are around the options. I'm looking for experiences using a graft from quad vs hamstring vs cadaver. Thank you!
*PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS FOR JOE
Thanks,
Skinnygurl
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5 comments:
Hi Joe and welcome to my blog.
I only have experience with the cadaver tendon and to date, everything is holding up just fine.
I hope you get some helpful comments. Please post and let us know how you're doing.
Skinnygurl
Hi Joe:
After I fell from my bicycle (which was the cause of my CL injury) I managed to ride another 20 miles!
My reconstruction was with an allograft Achilles tendon, double bundle technique. All went well until arthrofibrosis set in about 2 months post-op. Although my surgeon hasn't stated definitely why this happened, I believe it was an immune system response to the foreign tissue.
I tend to have allergic reactions to all sorts of stuff, so I would recommend you discuss the matter with your surgeon if you consider using an allograft.
My reconstruction failed over a period of two years post-op, which I attribute to ongoing immune system rejection of the graft.
Hi Joe,
I feel really sorry for what happened to you. Nonetheless, we are here to share.
I torn my PCL back in 2006. Had my reconstruction surgery in 2008, made a come back two years later.
Everything was fine until 3 weeks ago (Skinnygurl and Molly, I tore my ACL this time) That would a different whole story later.
However, something related to it, I went for MRI every year to check on my PCL. I use allograft tissue. Luckily, my knee can accept it!
It is still beautifully intact without any sign of deterioration.
Well, that is me. However, for the coming ACL surgery, my surgeon (diff one) strongly suggested to use cadaver because he was afraid of rejection case.
I heard enough about it could be bad too to use cadaver. Well, I am still contemplating. Do ur research. Ask around. Get 2nd, even 3rd or 4th opinion will help.
I saw this blog!
hamlet
Hi Joe
I had my PCL repaired with a hamstring graft from my leg. Surgeons in Australia seen very reluctant to use Allografts
It'll be 12 months since my reco in two days, and so far it's been really good, besides the odd bit of swelling and a few minor setbacks,
but i'm back running and playing football now (aussie rules football).
The only thing is, you can't work your hamstring muscle early in the rehad because it pulls agaisnt your graft. So about 6 months after my surgery i spent alot of time in the gym stenthening my hamstrings, and i have not had any issues with it so far, my surgeon said it should get back to around 95% of what it was before surgery.
Hi Joe,
My name is Jess. I had a grade 3 almost grade 4 PCL tear due to a snowboarding accident about 5 years ago almost to the day as well as a tear in my meniscus when I was 19. I can tell you from my experience I had to work my ass off by the time I finally got surgery my knee muscles were so atrophied I really had to work on my rehabilitation and my because of the brace I was using my knee wasn't completely straight so actually after surgery I was in so much pain because they had actually straightened my hamstring even though I wasn't supposed to feel any pain after surgery.
I honestly think what you are experiencing in your knee cap if I'm not mistaken may be some type of scar tissue build up and I would consider maybe going back to your physical therapist to try to break it up or go back to your doctor and explain what is going on. Maybe go back for another MRI Scan just to make sure everything is healing okay. I do know every once in a while during recovery my knee would pop randomly because some scar tissue had broken up and it like hell at the knee cap.
I know that a lot of times doctors say you'll be back in 6 months to your previously activities and everything but it literally took me a full year to recover and you're only at nine months so I would wait another 3 or four months to see how you are feeling. But in regards to how your kneecap is feeling I would go back to your doctor asap just to make sure everything is okay healing properly and that you don't have any scar tissue buildup that they may need to break up if your knee cap is doing what you say it is.
But it's gonna take at least another 3 months if not 4 until your back to hiking and snowboarding and until you feel no more pain. So be patient and take it a day at a time. Also, congrats on becoming a dad that is amazingly exciting and beautiful news!
Best of luck on your recovery and I hope all goes well. I actually wrote a blog documenting my experiences if you would like to check it out. It also has some information for you:
http://brokenboarder.typepad.com/broken-boarder-blog/2010/03/index.html
Best of luck and yours truly,
Jessica Kravitz
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