Hello! Have any if you gone through this with your child? Any advice? Recovery time? I would appreciate your input. Thanks!
Yes, and it worked miracles. I forget the recovery time, sorry. It involved PT of course. One thing you might want to look into before surgery is prolotherapy (either with dextrose or platelet rich plasma). My child had this for another joint. If we could go back in time she might have done this instead of surgery on her knee.
Yes, one of my Ds had surgery. Her surgery was open, not arthroscopic. and involved a bone graft and a tendon transplant–so fairly involved surgery. Recovery time: 3 days in the hospital, 5 days at home before she was able to return to school, 3-4 months to completely heal and finish PT to strengthen her leg.
I think she spent 4 or maybe 6 weeks in full length (hip to ankle) leg brace after surgery.
I’ve had this surgery. It was a rough road honestly. I was around 30. I ended up having scar tissue build up in the joint, didn’t have full range of motion and had to have a second surgery. It needed to be done, I had torn out all the interior ligaments, but it wasn’t fun.
Thanks for the feedback! My S is doing arthroscopic as a preventative measure. Since he just started spring semester, we’re worried about missed school.
My 24 year son had it done a month ago. He had osgood schlatter and a minor operation 2 years ago. Didn’t seem to help much as his knee cap kept dislocating and turning sideways causing 2 emergency room trips to pop it back into place. He has had pain and limited mobility. Couldn’t play basketball.
The recent surgery involved drilling a hole through the knee cap and tying it down with a cadever tendon. He also had his tibia sawed and realigned 25% and screwed together. I guess the tibia/knee alignment was a major problem. He took off 3 weeks work and lived at home. Very limited mobility First week. Crutches the first 2 weeks. Elaborate knee brace that he wore the majority of time for the first 4 weeks. Just wears it walking now.
Going through rehab now. Supposedly he will be able to do light running at 3 months. He is still on my health plan and since our deductible was met and health plans in flux we decided to get it done at the end of the year. Not a cheap procedure.
First 2-3 weeks are difficult so be prepared!
Wow, Ohiopublic, wishing your son a speedy recovery! I hope the operation is successful!
Let me know if I can answer any other questions jprtaco.
It is almost a year since my 16 yr old daughter had MPFL surgery to prevent repeated dislocation of knee. We were very hesitant to do it since it is a big surgery but so happy we did. The first week was tough with us having to help her do everything but she recovered very very quickly after that. She did PT and strengthening for about 4 months and was given full clearance to play on her volleyball team without any brace 8 months later. It was such a relief to not worry about it going out after every play. Her doctor said her hamstring tendon replacement of her patella made her knee 10 times stronger than it was before the surgery. She now has can move forward with whatever she does without giving it a concern.
D had this surgery in 2006. Her knee had suddenly started dislocating, and it always happened for no reason, while walking along, and did not happen while playing sports. We got multiple opinions and waited over a year to have the surgery. She was only 10 when she had surgery, and all surgeons indicated there was no other choice, PT wouldn’t help, a brace wouldn’t help, etc.
The procedure was "reconstruction of dislocating patella, with extensor realignment and/or muscle advancement and release (Campbell, Goldwaite type procedure). Her dr. was a technical genius who did amazing things, and had NO bedside manner, nor post-op instructions. This was before we had high-speed internet, and we did not have much information pre-surgery.
The surgery involved lengthening a tendon/ligament and shortening others, and also involved some screws/pins.
She had a lot of pain post-surgery, initially. She was in a wheelchair about a week, straight leg braced for 6 weeks, then PT. I was amazed how much her upper leg atrophied in that short amount of time.
It is a very long scar, more than I’ve ever seen for knee surgery. That bothered her as a teenager, and is difficult to shave. She had keloid scarring, probably related to another health concern of hers. That resulted in cortisone shots and laser treatments, both of which helped.
Good news–It has been over 10 years since surgery, and the knee has not gone out one time!! We are both very happy she had the surgery.
Yes, I have gone through this with one of my children. It is a long surgery , a painful post-op period, a time of non-weight bearing followed by a lengthy full leg cast and frequent PT. Very difficult to manage during the school year. Absolutely necessary to have child/young adult avoid the frequent/painful/damaging dislocations. My D had great results but it is an arduous process.
You only want to do this once. Spend a lot of time researching your surgeon and get multiple opinions .The general orthopedic surgeon at a community hospital is not doing these often and should not touch your young adult. I don’t know where you are geographically, but if you PM me I can tell you of the 2 or 3 excellent surgeons who do this on the East Coast.
Thank you, everyone. My S’s most recent dislocation was when some knucklehead decided to do the back of the knee push from behind. He plays football and doesn’t want to give up senior year. The Dr is the same Dr who did S2’s ACL repair and we’re in S Fl. He said he has to have the surgery to avoid arthritis and future dislocations. I may have questions as we go along, so I may PM, if you don’t mind.
Just an update in case anyone else needs this info in the future… My S(age 16) is 5 weeks post op and wears his brace only in school. He ditced the crutches with the Dr’s blessing at 3.5 weeks. PT started on Day 4, 3x per week. He is already at 138 degrees (bend) and using a leg press and stationary bike in PT. His incisions healed nicely and he has no pain. His biggest problem is the loss of muscle in his thigh, which he is working on. He has a check up next week with the surgeon. All in all, it was not as bad as we thought it would be. Thanks for the input & advice!