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ACL Injury?

Posted , 2 users are following.

james17357
james17357

I first ruptured my ACL in September 2011 and the hamstring graft failed about 12 months later. I had the patellar tendon graft put in 2 months after this and it has been ok since then. I have recently had a lot of difficulty with my knee. I was sprinting in a straight line in a game of soccer and my knee clicked on the medial side, I stopped playing straight away it was very painful. There was no swelling at all until about 12 hours later. Since this injury there has always been a full range of movement but it is painful down the inside of knee when I straighten it, when I bend it there is no pain at all. All I have done since is walk I have not started doing anything more than this, generally walking is ok but quite often it feels like my knee is catching down the inside and this is painful enough to make me stop walking. It is very uncomfortable. I went to see my doctor and my physiotherapist who carried out the usual tests, they both said that the ACL felt strong and agreed with what I thought, which was that I have a tear in a cartilage in the medial side of the knee. I was referred to my surgeon who again carried out the tests, he seemed reluctant to say what he thought was the problem and said I need an MRI. I asked him if he thought it was cartilage and he said it could be, but it could also be that the ACL graft has loosened. This has made me extrememly concerned because since the incident where I've reinjured my knee I have never thought that there was a problem with the ACl. It seemed to me that the surgeon thought that the ACL had loosened, but he didn't want to say until we get the MRI results. My knee never give way or feels particularly unstable. It is not painful to bear weight. Can anyone shed some light on what it means if the graft has loosened? And do you agree with the surgeon's opinion?

Thanks so much, James.  

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Hitgurl7
    Hitgurl7 james17357

    Posted

    James. I've had 2 acl reconstructions. The first was in 1995 and they used my patellar tendon. Then in 2005 I was running straight but at a downhill angle after a feisty when I felt a sharp snap in the medial area of my knee. I immediately thought I had stretched my acl and the knee felt unstable and was painful. However I didn't have insurance at the time and continued on the knee for 3 years until I went to the doctor. I was adamant in telling him I had reinjured my acl so they reconstructed it a second time with a cadaver ligament. However now, almost 10 years later I believe the incident to have been more of a meniscal problem than an acl. Your doctor is hesitant because he needs the proper tools to diagnose your issue. An MRI scan will give him the information he needs and it sounds to me like you've damaged your medial meniscus. Don't be like me and assume what it could be. Doctors are very well schooled in this and will be able to advise appropriately. Also don't hesitate to get a second or even third opinion. Good luck! I'm having some terrible knee problems myself right now sad
  • james17357
    james17357

    Posted

    Hi, it has been a while since I posted this and yes we were both correct in that there was a big, bucket handle tear in the medial meniscus. I had the surgery a few weeks ago.

    Thanks for your help

  • james17357
    james17357

    Posted

    Its been quite good, although the cartilage is very thin now and is going soft according to the surgeon. Having said that, it feels a lot better than before.
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