RE: Probable tear of ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in Right knee

November 21, 2003

I went though a complete reconstruction of my acl a little over a year ago.

I went to a sports medicine surgeon, and I've been seeing him for almost

seven years now. Because he has keep me out of surgery when other doctors

have wanted to. From the MRI they are suppose to know if there is a tear or

not. Have you gotten a second opinion? I would never let someone open me up

with out them being 100 percent sure that it was the only thing I can do.

If it is just a minor tear with caution and physical therapy your body

will repair yourself, well may I ask how old you are? Just being because

the older the more serious the injury. But other wise it sounds also like

you might have damaged your cartridge. I never had any swelling in my knee,

but it hurt to bad for me to walk for about a day. Then there wasn't really

any pain. But I could feel my knee slipping, like nothing was really

holding my leg together. And the doctor and pull on your knee looking for

the resistance of your acl. Have you spoken with a sports medicine doctor?

thisismanuforall [thisismanuforall]

Friday, November 21, 2003 12:45 PM

Probable tear of ACL (Anterior

Cruciate Ligament) in Right knee

I injured my knee three weeks back & had my MRI done 10 days back &

all doctors & analyst suggest that I have a probable tear of my ACL

(Anterior Cruciate Ligament). Although I have fixed an appointment

for it grafting surgery next week but I have some doubt.

My leg movement has been improving since the date of my injury. A

lthough it made a loud crackle noise during my injury & had swelling

in the knee but I never had any pain in my knee unless I fold it. It

does pose some instability while moving around.

Dr. was suggesting he would be sure of complete tear of the ligament

only during the surgery. My question is, Is there any process by

which I can check for the condition of my ACL before actual surgery?

November 22, 2003

That was my daughter who wrote you the last post - like she said, she had

ACL surgery. When she tore her ACL, the surgeon she had seen on two other

injuries was out of town. She did not like the new orthopedic surgeon we saw

instead and waited almost two months for the other doctor to do the surgery.

The main reason was that she trusted the first doctor, partly because he

specialized in sports medicine and athletes, partly because he himself was a

soccer player and understood her love for the game and passion to play,

partly because on two previous injuries (shoulder dislocation and tearing of

a number of tendons in her left leg and ankle) he treated without doing

surgery, a lot of physical therapy instead. She didn't feel he was cut

happy. Trusting her doctor was very important to her.

But her ACL tear was a complete tear. That was obvious from the MRI, even we

could see it. She and I both are a bit questionable as to why your doctor

cannot tell from the MRI. That may be reasonable but I wonder if maybe he

didn't get the best scans possible. When they did her MRI on her knee, it

was done on a special MRI machine for knees and ankles - it's a small

machine, she sat in a chair and it covered only her leg, different than the

large machine that has you lie inside of a tubular chamber. It rotated

around her knee, she would put her leg in different positions for scans.

When we took the scans to the second doctor, his staff conjugated to look at

the pictures as they were much better than what the large MRI scan usually

gives them. This machine was new back then and most of them had not seen

scans from it. If you consider a second opinion, you might ask about it.

You probably already have had the doctor stand in front of you with your

knee bent and he pulls your leg below the knee. When the ACL is gone, the

lower part of the leg will pull much further out because it doesn't have the

ACL holding it to the upper part of your leg. You can compare it to the left

leg to see the difference. She was able to walk but she would suddenly just

fall on occassion. She even played a soccer tournament just before the

surgery but she wasn't able to do the twists and turns you need to do and

would suddenly just fall when running. She finished that tournament with a

return of pain. When the doctor did the surgery, he found cartlidge damage

that he had not seen before. She and I figure she did it in that tournament

but we didn't tell the doctor. My point is though, you can go without the

surgery, you can wait to have it. But be careful if you do and don't push

it.

Mary

Mary [mhysmith]

Friday, November 21, 2003 11:21 PM

RE: Probable tear of ACL (Anterior