 Poster: A snowHead
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I think my surgeon did my MCL because it didn't heal very well, and he was doing my ACL anyway, so he has done a procedure to encourage it to tighten up.
I would try to continue with the anti-inflammatories (whether dicofenac or ibruprofen) as it took a full 2 months for the internal (invisible) swelling to go down on my MCL, but you could also ask your physio what he/she thought. The way mine healed was not linear, it went back and forth a lot until it settled down completely.
I agree that showers over bath are a nightmare with knee issues! I really, really hated it to start with and dreaded taking a shower for weeks as I was convinced I was going to fall.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I had 3 months of physio, 3 times a week, between injury and operation but my physio didn't give me exercises and was quite strict about telling me not to do any before the operation so as not to aggravate swelling - my physio sessions were just massage, flexing and extending and then having my quads plugged into the electric pulse things. I noticed the swelling went down more quickly once I was allowed to ditch the brace and I didn't take any anti-inflammatories at all - my physio thought they would make such a small difference to the swelling that it wasn't worth it (and my doctor hadn't prescribed any). This was in France where they are quite into their drugs too... it's difficult to know what's best when there always seems to be a lot of conflicting advice! Like aussie82, the swelling would come and go until it settled down (though didn't disappear completely) before the operation, and this was directly related to how much walking/standing I'd been doing at work.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thanks for the replies.
It's interesting how there are different approaches to this, but glad you are both doing well.
I've had a light day on the exercises as I've been busy, but the walking still seems to have made it swell. Oh well, at least the ice is helping it go back down.
A busy week on my feet ahead, so I'm going to put my foot up whenever possible, and keep on with the drugs.
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| janeed wrote: |
| Can I ask why your MCL needed surgery? I though the MCL usually doesn't, but maybe that is just if the only problem is the MCL? |
Skiers, unfortunately, seem to have a high incidence of ACL and MCL ruptures. There can be a little persisting laxity in the MCL after it has healed. About six years I became concerned that failure to deal with this was putting excessive strain on the new ACL. Skiing loads the MCL significantly, hence the high incidence of injuries to it.
I now tighten up the MCL,and use patella tendon for the graft, if the MCL is a little lax, if not I use hamstrings as usual. The stability of the knee is improved giving an almost certain chance of returning to skiing the following season.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Looks like I won't be joining the club after all. MRI suggests my issue is the PCL instead.
Interesting answer about MCL surgery above, thanks.
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miranda, not so long ago, I remember you posting on the Aravis thread, asking about suitable runs for your rehab. over in LGB. Bizarre, then, that I now find myself reading all 16 pages of this thread having just had my ACL replaced after a crash in Grand Bornand on the 13th. All of you have given me a lot of hope for future progress in days currently revolving around ice packs, paracetamol, leg exercises and crutches...at least it was the last week I was planning to ski this year.
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gvj, oh, sorry to hear that - when you say you had a crash on the 13th, which month? (just wondering how quickly you got the op done). Glad that this thread has given you hope for progress though - my knee has caused me absolutely no problems this season at all and, after a very busy and active season, my legs have finally got their muscle tone back too (was starting to wonder if that would ever happen without me putting in some dedicated and concentrated physio leg work!). All things being well, you should be fine next season (so, yes, well done on at least timing it with your last week of skiing this season!) 
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miranda, yes, my story's rather atypical in that it was last month! I was doing short fast turns down a red I know really well in the Maroly sector. Looking back I guess all the classic ingredients were in place for something to go wrong. The visibility was lousy. There were a few cms of new snow, which was piled up and heavy. The steep section was unpisted but not quite a mogul field so I wasn't in any way in "cautious" mode. Between two S turns my L, uphill ski stopped dead and I hyperextended my knee. Cue a fall and a lot of pain, neither binding released. Somehow, after the pain had passed, I managed to get down the hill.
I'm a medic and, bizarrely, I was actually skiing with a friend who's also my GP in the UK so we did an assessment when we got back to the house that day. The worst of the pain had subsided very quickly and there was some late swelling but not a lot, as well as some tenderness over the front/inner top of the tibia. I'd lost a bit of extension but not much.
Being optimists we decided I'd probably sprained my MCL and maybe damaged the medial meniscus. Cue 2 days rest, lots of icing, ibuprofen and a reinforced neoprene knee brace from the pharmacie. I was even able to ski on it (rather gingerly) for the last two days of the week....
 Back in the UK it was clear things weren't improving. I still couldn't fully extend my leg. So I saw one of the local knee specialists at our fracture clinic. I was booked for an arthroscopy on the next day's trauma list ("so long as it didn't get too busy") and, to cut a long post short, here I am....
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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gvj, Hope the rehab goes OK. All being well skiing next season should be a realistic goal
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AndAnotherThing.., thanks. I'm day 5 post op today and had been hopeful of being a bit more active but woke up this am with an impressive fever which has really knocked me for six. My leg's not hot or red or swollen particularly so I'm really really hoping it's a flu type thing and not a post-op complication. Will add my experiences to the ACL databank as time goes on...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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gvj, Fever aside, it gets better from here on in  Hope it wears off soon.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Hi guys, can anyone join (although no-one would willingly want to). More later on what I've done to myself, but I am post-op (yesterday) to screw and plate a fracture (crush injury) at the knee joint/fibula. Don't know if there was any ligament damage, the surgeon said they'd fix everything that was damaged so waiting to see the surgeon again this morning for the debrief.
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holidayloverxx, oh dear. Not good. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
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You know it makes sense.
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gvj, that's rotten with the fever timing - hope you feel better soon and can actually enjoy some of the post op time off... as said earlier in the thread, I planned to read so many books, watch various films I hadn't got round to seeing, in fact I had loads of projects in mind... and then the time whizzed by and I couldn't really justify not getting off my bum and doing some actual work.
holidayloverxx, sorry to hear that - really hope your surgeon has good news for you this morning. Was it a crush injury or a crash injury?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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miranda, crush - a night storage heater fell on me - all my own fault. yes, all went well. now trying to sort repatriation of me, my neice and my car
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Poster: A snowHead
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holidayloverxx, Sorry to hear - double pain really, being all your own fault  Hope you get repatriated easily
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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holidayloverxx, oh no, that sounds really painful! Best wishes for a swift recovery and trouble free return. Keep us posted.
miranda, AndAnotherThing.., fever down this am and nose streaming like a tap so feeling a lot less stressed about possibility of wound infections etc. feel awake enough today to restart my exercises. As for time off, I'm afraid I'm already making plans to get driven into work to do some admin stuff tomorrow - much to OH's disgust.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I went to see the surgeon today for an 8-week update. He said that in my case he would not recommend ACL reconstruction surgery: the MCL has been healing nicely, and there's no sign of damage to menisci. He said they typically expect to do reconstructions on about 1 in 3 ACLs, and I should be OK with physio, but would need some form of brace for skiing.
So my question is - is there another good thread here on the subject of non-surgical acl rehab, and/or skiing with an acl-deficient knee?
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HChalkley, I would check out http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/
I certainly know a friend who tried to carry on playing hockey and skiing with an ACL, when I ruptured mine I had a chat with him and he advised me to have the reconstruction. He said he caused a lot more damage by trying to carry on without one. I had a reconstruction and I have no regrets.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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HChalkley, I'm sure Johnathan Bell will be along shortly with his very valuable input (he is one of the best orthopaedic surgeons currently working in the capital), but my 2p worth is to seek another opinion, preferably from another orthopaedic surgeon with a speciality in sports injuries. If you do not have meniscus damage now, you will in the future. The non-surgical route requires you to maintain tip-top muscle condition around the knee for the rest of your life (active and then post-active). The muscles then compensate for the loss of the rotational stability the ACL gives you. If you lose that condition, your knee becomes more susceptible to irregular rotational movements that will eventually chew up the meniscus and articular cartilage (this is like the gristly bits on chicken bones).
A brace is only as good a reminder that you are not indestructible (I wear one so I'm not being snotty about braces here). It has to be a top-notch functional brace, properly fitted by an expert prosthetics technician to ensure it is correctly fitted and appropriate to your injury and your leg. Sorry but chucking money at places like Slush & Rubble for something they say some skiing God wears is like pissing into the wind - you just get something nasty back! I saw a real dickhead here today wearing 2 top of the range braces outside his ski trousers, trying to show some others how to ski off jumps and into powder. Just before he set off, he pulled both braces up and complained that they were always slipping around! He would have done better paying the money to join a gym and maybe having some good lessons. Saw him again later complaining his legs hurt!
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HChalkley,
Hi , I think I read that you have an ACL rupture with an MCl injury with meniscus in intact and joint surfaces ok.
The grade of MCL is relevant.
My view may differ from others.
Mine is on the basis that I do nothing but knees and see numerous patients with this injury so am very comfortable treating it. That will mean that i am possibly more inclined to feel comfortable in offering surgery, because I'm very familiar with the likely outcome. I don't mean to criticise but a specialist will feel more confident about some complex operations when compared to a more general or less experienced surgeon. It is quite right that a surgeon declines surgery they feel less confident about their outcomes.In other words, some surgeons may genuinely offer a different opinion even with similar professional experience or because they see less of these they feel less confident about getting a good result from surgery.
I generally feel that an MCl / ACL injury in an active individual who wants to participate in pivoting sports will almost always struggle without reconstruction. Even if they are not giving way they will most likely eventually tear the medial meniscus. ACL reco will reduce the risk of tear to the meniscus so I do think it is worth considering reconstruction if the joint surfaces and meniscus are intact. ACL reco does reduce the risk of tears in the meniscus by about a factor of ten.
About ten percent will get away with a " normal" knee post ACL rupture. I think the rule of thirds , that you have been quoted, has been surpassed by more recent scientific studies and these days find it less helpful than in the past.
Although I have offered a rather simplified argument in opposition to the advice given, I do it to illustrate that the decision should be individualised and perhaps requires more than one viewpoint. What you should seek is a balanced argument giving you both sides of the story so you can agree a treatment forwards.
Thanks to Samerberg Sue, for noting my predictability Jonathan bell
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HChalkley, I think that your decision to get a second consultant's opinion should be influenced by what your skiing and other sporting ambitions are for the future. If, like me, you want to return to serious level of participation then I'd definitely speak to someone who's a specialist in ACL reconstruction. Get it done soon and you could be good to go for next season !
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| HChalkley wrote: |
| He said that in my case he would not recommend ACL reconstruction surgery. He said they typically expect to do reconstructions on about 1 in 3 ACLs, and I should be OK with physio, but would need some form of brace for skiing. |
I met a surgeon a couple weeks ago while on my last ski trip who suggested that patents are being subjected to ACL surgery when there is no need. Unfortunately I was unable to follow up on the conversation but it prompted me discuss the question with my physio who's been rehabbing professional footballers back to fitness for about 20 years.
His take was that in the old days the success rate from surgery (i.e. A return to professional sport) was relatively low so the tendency was to try rehab and see how it went. With advances in ACL surgery and much improved outcomes (For footballers now I think he suggested an 85%+ success for a return to pro sport.) the pendulum has swung the other way, with most going for surgery rather than trying to rehab it.
The problem seems to be that if you go the rehab route and it doesn't work out the potential for more damage to the knee is significant should it fail, plus the impact on later life with arthritis from the added damage. That said a Vet friend pointed out that drilling holes in your knee doesn't help with arthritis !
It seems to come down to 'lifestyle'. If you lead a sedentary lifestyle with little activity it maybe that rehab is the way to go.
When I asked about my case, the thought was that because of my skiing teaching, climbing and other stuff, surgery was the right way to go for me and the result has been as good as I could have hoped.
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AndAnotherThing.., when I saw my knee specialist I had to decide within 24 hours if I was going to go in on the next day's trauma list. Having skied for over 30 years and this being the first time I'd ever needed to go to hospital with an injury, it triggered an awful lot of frenetic research into the outcomes of ACL surgery.
Your vet friend's point about the bone drilling maybe triggering arthritis sounds sensible but I don't think is borne out by studies. Only a very tiny bit of that trauma is to the articular surfaces of the knee joint and that's in/very near the area you've already "damaged" by snapping your ACL in the first place.
One thing I was worried about was that I was only 11 days post injury and the received wisdom seemed to be "do your pre-hab - wait a few weeks for the knee to settle down - then have the op". I asked my surgeon about this and he said that one of the latest meta-analyses showed no difference in outcome in terms of stiffness etc between early and late repair. http://pubget.com/paper/23317564/The_Optimal_Timing_for_Anterior_Cruciate_Ligament_Reconstruction_With_Respect_to_the_Risk_of_Postoperative_Stiffness
He also said he ought to know as he was one of the paper's authors...... That's when I signed the consent form!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks for all the comments. For now I will try to pursue the physio rehab route - but if when I feel I have the strength to get back on skis, I find I'm too wobbly, I'll reconsider surgery. I am over 50, and not interested in playing football or squash.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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HChalkley, good luck with the rehab - let us know how you get on. It will be interesting to compare notes as I'm also the wrong side of fifty.
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| gvj wrote: |
AndAnotherThing.., when I saw my knee specialist I had to decide within 24 hours if I was going to go in on the next day's trauma list. Having skied for over 30 years and this being the first time I'd ever needed to go to hospital with an injury, it triggered an awful lot of frenetic research into the outcomes of ACL
One thing I was worried about was that I was only 11 days post injury and the received wisdom seemed to be "do your pre-hab - wait a few weeks for the knee to settle down - then have the op". I asked my surgeon about this and he said that one of the latest meta-analyses showed no difference in outcome in terms of stiffness etc between early and late repair. http://pubget.com/paper/23317564/The_Optimal_Timing_for_Anterior_Cruciate_Ligament_Reconstruction_With_Respect_to_the_Risk_of_Postoperative_Stiffness
He also said he ought to know as he was one of the paper's authors...... That's when I signed the consent form! |
I've been doing ACL reconstruction, as a consultant, 15 years.
It is possible to get good results from early reconstruction, but it is necessary to get on with it immediately ( first day or so ) and, I believe, have optimal rehab. Ie no other distractions like going to work, children, travel etc. This is because outcome can be hugely affected by regaining full extension , and that in turn is dependant on amount if physio and how quickly you control swelling
Most who have had a reco. Will tell you that achieving both full extension and control of swelling was hard work and that the knee swells with minimal activity immediately after surgery.
It therefore suits professional athletes who can have two sessions of physio a day and not much else to do. The perceived wisdom is to reconstruct within first couple of days or when the knee has full movement and no swelling, usually more than three or four weeks. The worst time to do it is after the first week , whilst the knee is restricted in movement.
Your surgeon, who operated at 11 days, has contradicted the findings from his own paper and operated beyond the first week . He/ you may well get away with this, but some won't and will lose extension permanently. Just 3 ( or more) degrees loss of extension can result in arthritis of the knee. That has been shown by one of the most respected knee surgeons in the world. If you wait( just four to six weeks) loss of extension is virtually zero.
I have on a few occasions " lost " patients who demanded surgery whilst the knee is stiff. I let them go.
So I always say to anyone asking about early surgery.
Who benefits more from immediate surgery: the patient or the surgeon?
Answer that question from the point of view of
i) a pro sportsman with short career paid 15 K per week where gaining six weeks is crucial, he will probably have arthritis in late 30' s regardless.
ii) recreational skier who would like to ski next season
iii) surgeon, or hospital , keen to make sure their new patient doesn't go elsewhere ( think Austria)
iv) keen young surgeon who hasn't seen too many knees become very stiff after seemingly routine well executed ACL surgery
You need to schedule frequent physio. Two to three times a week as a minimum to ensure you do regain movement asap. You also need to plan very little else which is less easy if surgery carried out as an emergency.
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You know it makes sense.
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Jonathan Bell, I should know better than to ask for advice on the web and you have pretty much answered my question above. I ruptured my right ACL a year ago and the MCL is intact. I also sustained a medial meniscal injury and was unable to fully extend my knee for 4 or 5 months post injury. In September I had an arthroscopy and the surgeon tidied up the cartilage and debrided the ACL stump. Since then my knee is better and it does not give way in day to day activity. My rehab has been compromised by what I take to be a back problem with pain radiating down through left buttock and going down into my left foot. Initially I was experiencing similar pain in the right thigh. This was very severe last August-November and althoughI didn't miss any time off work I was really struggling (I blame carrying my golf bag and golf). Anyway I can now walk pretty much indefinitely and don't need to take any analgesics but still limp a bit and my injured knee has a slight ache. I need to get on with a very delayed rehab.
My question is what type of skiing is feasible without a reconstruction? I could envisage some gentle piste skiing but not steep terrain, bumps or off piste. Thanls.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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ianmacd,
There isn't a stock answer.
It isn't clear from your post why you couldn't extend to the knee fully straight.
It may have been your meniscus, or possibly the stump of the ACL. That appears to have been dealt with.
Now you have full movement there are two factors to consider
I) the stability of your knee ( it varies from one individual to another)
Ii) the demands you wish, or are able ( in light of your back) to make on your knee.
If you have a stable knee and wish to live life using your knee as a hinge( cycle, walk , poodle on a blue ) you will possibly be ok.
If you have an unstable knee and wish to pivot , cut and dance when drunk you may experience episodes of instability( your knee briefly buckles)
Then there is everyone in between.
Instability is bad.
When you have recovered from your back ( if have great sympath,y from personal experience ) you could test you knee under the guidance of a physio to see what can be achieved. In other words gradually challenge the knee more and more- culminating in skiing. I suggest trying snow dome to do this not a 2 grand trip to Verbier. You will learn if the knee will hold up. Bare in mind only 10% are able to participate in full sports without compromise.
If the knee unstable or you can't commit on it ( much the same in reality) then you need a reco.
I think most serious skiers need a reco but happy for a once a year skier to cope with a brace
You need to have a conversation with your surgeon to discuss your knee, your " dangers" ( fears, actual problems, i'm sorry you just don't understand giving up skiing isn't an option, risk of arthritis, what happens when my kids outdo me etc) and the risks/ effects of surgery .
It has to be an individualised answer that is suited to you alone.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Jonathan Bell, thanks for such a lengthy reply. It pretty much confirms what I knew. I think I will get on with some more exercise and then see a physio again and maybe see the surgeon again.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| AndAnotherThing.. wrote: |
| HChalkley wrote: |
| He said that in my case he would not recommend ACL reconstruction surgery. He said they typically expect to do reconstructions on about 1 in 3 ACLs, and I should be OK with physio, but would need some form of brace for skiing. |
I met a surgeon a couple weeks ago while on my last ski trip who suggested that patents are being subjected to ACL surgery when there is no need. |
Perhaps, but, I suspect has rather simplified a highly complex area of knee surgery.
When I discuss the merits of surgery vs non operative care with one of my patients generally try to cover the following points, tailoring it to the expectations of the individual:-
Scientific papers that report on surgical techniques are obliged to have decent length of follow up so much of the literature,until fairly recently, were reporting on techniques that, these days, would be consider sub- optimal. Ie they are not the techniques used today.
In the past, most accepted the advice to cut back or give up sports, because they had a serious injury to their knee. These days most are aware of what can be achieved by reconstruction .
We now know untreated AcL rupture has a very high rate of resultant injury to the meniscii and subsequent arthritis.
ACL reconstruction can reduce meniscus injury very significantly.
An intact medial meniscus can under some circumstances ( successful reco, good joint surfaces and FULL extension of the knee ) lead to vey low rates of arthritis and high levels of performance.
When viewed critically, non operative programmes actually have a very high chance of failure to get the individual back to the same level of activity as before injury.
ACL reco has a very high chance of getting an individual back to preinjury status ( or quite close to it)
A trashed knee is a trashed knee. In other words if the meniscii and joint surfaces are badly damaged the knee will probably wear anyway , regardless of whether the knee is reco'd Many knees with damaged meniscii and joint surfaces will get satisfactory outcome from reco even if they do get arthritis in the long term.
Not all knees are as unstable as another, so if you are rather sedentary you will get way with a more unstable knee than someone who wishes to live a fuller life.
There is plenty more to consider when faced with an injured person.
Rules of thumb are fine for general discussion but best avoided when dealing with real people.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Jonathan,
Thanks so much for your input to this thread. I had my acl repaired aroud 16 years ago using pateller tendon. However, your point about extension had me thinking - i've never fully regained flexion in the knee concerned. Now the rest of my outcome was excellent, fully returned to sports (except football), and learnt to ski at 39, many years after the injury. I still don't have perfect flexion in my knee. Simple test of trying to bring the heel of my left knee to my bum fails - i get to maybe 3-4 inches away and can get no further. Knee fully straightens, no prob there. Is there anything i can do to improve flexion at this stage or is it too late?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| coddlesangers wrote: |
Jonathan,
Thanks so much for your input to this thread. I had my acl repaired aroud 16 years ago using pateller tendon. However, your point about extension had me thinking - i've never fully regained flexion in the knee concerned. Now the rest of my outcome was excellent, fully returned to sports (except football), and learnt to ski at 39, many years after the injury. I still don't have perfect flexion in my knee. Simple test of trying to bring the heel of my left knee to my bum fails - i get to maybe 3-4 inches away and can get no further. Knee fully straightens, no prob there. Is there anything i can do to improve flexion at this stage or is it too late? |
It is far less important if you lose a few degrees of flexion- as evidenced by what sounds like a good outcome. You can get away with loss of 5 or even 10 degrees of flexion: a similar loss of extension would give a poor result.
You almost certainly will not improve the flexion at this late stage, but it probably isn't that important anyway.
Also perhaps worth pointing out that patella tendon as a choice of graft should be written off! I still use it in those who have a significant MCL injury as well as an ACL.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Jonathan Bell,
| Quote: |
You can get away with loss of 5 or even 10 degrees of flexion: a similar loss of extension would give a poor result.
You almost certainly will not improve the flexion at this late stage, but it probably isn't that important anyway.
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Music to my ears!
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Thanks Jonathan. At the time my repair was done, the choice i had was patella tendon graft, or cadaver graft...i went with patella on the basis that it was at least not dead  . Memory is dim, but i'm pretty sure i had also partially torn mcl and meniscus was also torn as well...my surgeon was the surgeon to the irish soccer team at the time, so i was in competent hands!
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coddlesangers,
The cadaver graft would have probably failed by now. Not sure i understand the recent enthusiasm for using cadaveric material for routine ACLs
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Jonathan Bell, I was offered a cadaver graft last year. I'd torn my ACL & various other ligaments 6 years previously, & had rehabilitated it well - to the extent that I would have been hard pressed to remember which was the damaged knee. Certainly I was back skiing & playing tennis without my Donjoy brace. Then early last season I fell & retore my MCL & somehow managed to completely destabilise my knee. The surgeon offered the cadaver ligament on the grounds of my age (56 then), drugs I was taking & if it was to fail, then the infrastructure of my knee would be no worse than it currently was. I have to say, I felt a bit squeamish about the cadaver ligament & have been trying to rehabilitate it myself - with mixed results, as yet. I've not skied this season & it gives out at tennis occasionally. Do they have a shorter life expectancy than a normally repaired ACL? Still wondering whether I should bite the bullet & go for surgery..
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Jonathan Bell wrote: |
| AndAnotherThing.. wrote: |
| HChalkley wrote: |
| He said that in my case he would not recommend ACL reconstruction surgery. He said they typically expect to do reconstructions on about 1 in 3 ACLs, and I should be OK with physio, but would need some form of brace for skiing. |
I met a surgeon a couple weeks ago while on my last ski trip who suggested that patents are being subjected to ACL surgery when there is no need. |
Rules of thumb are fine for general discussion but best avoided when dealing with real people. |
Yep, I wish I'd have more time to discuss it with him.
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Jonathan Bell, cheeky to butt in, but I have a thread running over on Apres after my comminuted compression condyle lateral tibial plateau fracture last week. If you get a minute it would be good to see what you think of the x-rays on Pages 7 & 8 http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=99642&start=240 (thanks)
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Tue 9-04-13 19:17; edited 4 times in total
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