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ACL and PCL surgery

CyHawk1605

CyHawk1605

Well-Known Member
Jun 22, 2020
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I got into a spot of trouble last week working on the farm and hurt my knee pretty bad while I was lifting some cinder blocks. My grandad who is a radiologist was asking me questions about pain and location of pain and other stuff and he told me that judging from the area, it looks like it could be an ACL and also a small tear with the PCL. Any ideas on how long recovery is, rehab, and surgery? I’m hoping it’s just a bad sprain which is what he said also could be a possibility.
 
Son tore his ACL in football 2 years ago. Surgery was middle of September. Finished rehab just after first of the year but not released until track and no jumping or push out of the blocks with hurt knee. Wore a brace the next year for football but not for wrestling. 6 months the blood just starts to flow, 9 months decent flow, 2 year to get back to strength.

Used Dr Warme at Mary Greely, ISU doctor and rehabbed at athletico.

Athletico will do some basic test and your knee will tell if it’s ACL. It will move back and forth too much. Best to rehab a week before surgery also.
 
If you need surgery, go now that harvest is done. Be prepared to hire some help in the spring.
 
AgronAlum said:
If you need surgery, go now that harvest is done. Be prepared to hire some help in the spring.
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I don’t work full time at the farm. My family owns it and works on it but I’m up there almost everyone weekend since I work during the week.
 
BCClone said:
Used Dr Warme at Mary Greely, ISU doctor and rehabbed at athletico.

Athletico will do some basic test and your knee will tell if it’s ACL. It will move back and forth too much. Best to rehab a week before surgery also.
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I’m thinking surgery is a must have because I’ve messed this knee up so many times from when I was just a freshman in HS. I’ve had 4 dislocations and a torn meniscus so I need to consult with radiologist and surgeon to see what best options are. I will most definitely have to get my knee replaced at some point but I’d rather not do it now when I’m not even 30 yet.
 
Oof. Are you taking anti inflammatorys right now? Get it looked at. Not going to pry on where you live but Williams and Blum always talk about the McFarland docs doing those type of surgeries.
Hang in there.
 
CyHawk1605 said:
I’m thinking surgery is a must have because I’ve messed this knee up so many times from when I was just a freshman in HS. I’ve had 4 dislocations and a torn meniscus so I need to consult with radiologist and surgeon to see what best options are. I will most definitely have to get my knee replaced at some point but I’d rather not do it now when I’m not even 30 yet.
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If you're that young I'd go see a Doctor just because what you do now impacts the next 50+ years of your life.
 
CyHawk1605 said:
I got into a spot of trouble last week working on the farm and hurt my knee pretty bad while I was lifting some cinder blocks. My grandad who is a radiologist was asking me questions about pain and location of pain and other stuff and he told me that judging from the area, it looks like it could be an ACL and also a small tear with the PCL. Any ideas on how long recovery is, rehab, and surgery? I’m hoping it’s just a bad sprain which is what he said also could be a possibility.
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As others said, go see a doctor but this is my experience with ACL surgery and recovery.

I had an ACL tear and grade 2 MCL sprain 6 years ago from technically a non contact sports injury. Doc said all sprains are partial tears, MCL healed but ACL needed reconstructive surgery for a complete tear. I was advised it's *possible* to just not have surgery and and experience knee giving out and stuff like that and they don't recommend surgery for older patients, but I was 24 and was active, so i went ahead with it.

I'm not sure if this was a new method or they were just trying it out on me, but they had me do PT for about 2 months prior to surgery since it supposedly helps with post surgery recovery, and I was back walking normally with full range of motion back prior to surgery. Went thru all of the similar PT post surgery.

I had the surgery the week after thanksgiving that year, had to do some quad exercises at home and working on range of motion for two weeks (didn't regain completely during this time), and i had to do PT like 3x, 2x, then 1x/week for the next 4 months or so. I had to be able to run for 5- 10 minutes (don't remember exact) without stopping and go thru some test to get cleared for sports. I'm still not 100% back to pre injury levels, but I'll blame that on an office job and not working out anywhere close to the level I had done in college/pre injury.

Not sure if this part is relevant for tou, but I hit my out of pocket max with the surgery, so with annual enrollment coming up if you need to adjust your insurance it might not hurt to get to whatever plan that has the lowest deductible/max especially if the surgery isn't until next year. There's still plenty of time to max out your HSA to use pre tax money if you can have one. Supplemental accident kicked in which was nice, and it covered both calendar years too since it still fit their plan guidelines.
 
Could it be scar tissue from all the other injuries to it? Good luck. Fractured my ankle into a bunch of pieces about 10 years ago. Man was it stiff and sore this morning. Maybe due to the weather change.
 
6 months to start feeling pretty good

1 year you think you are back normal

1.5 years and you realize at one year you were wrong and you are finally now back to normal
 
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Well the first thing you need to do is go to a real doctor and find out exactly what you are dealing with. Sprain, partial tear, complete tear, etc. Depending on what activity level you are and how active you plan to be in the future at will dictate what treatment you go with. If you have partial tear you can do PT to build up muscles to make up for the ligament weakness.

I'm old, but I partially tore mine in 1992 and was very active playing basketball league tournaments and still run to this day. I did PT and after the first couple months I knew what to do and kept it up until I totally tore it in 1999 and had the reconstructive surgery. Did what they told me to do and it took 6 months for me to feel comfortable playing basketball again but today that knee is very strong and I have no issues at all with it. Doctor who did my ACL/meniscus surgery was ISU Wrestling coach Gibbons brother and he was great.

One thing I would advise is if you have a choice in what they use for the replacement ligament (cadaver(sp), patella tendon, or part of hamstring, or whatever else) choose anything but the hamstring. The hamstring pain and swelling I dealt with after that surgery was absolutely awful for a good month and sleep was rare. Had friends that did some of the other options and they weren't dealing with near as much pain. I have a high pain tolerance but that kicked my arse.
 
Acl surgery in 89 with meniscus repair. Don't think the meniscus repair took, as I continued to sprain my knee on a regular basis until needing to replace the acl again in 96. The failed meniscus repair was cleaned up and i haven't had any serious issues since.

Mostly just running now. Occassionally get some swelling when i get some bone on bone action in the knee, or if i try to run too fast.

As mentioned above and in the shoulder surgery topic, don't skimp on the physical therapy. It is extremely boring, but essential.

Used the patellar tendon both times, second time donated from my good knee. Left the hospital same day with leg immobilizers on both legs. Could not get up from any sitting position without assistance for 3 days.

Not having the reconstruction done was never a good option for me. I have, and still have, a high metabolism, which will erode muscle if I'm not maintaining caloric intake.
 
nfrine said:
And pay for the surgery with cash. :cool:

Seriously, DesMoines Orthopedic Surgery (DMOS) in the Des Moines area is solid.
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That’s where I went to have a scope done on my other knee a few years ago. Really happy with the results there because I haven’t had any pain or problems in that knee since.
 
Macloney said:
Go to a real doctor.

This is Cyclone Fanatic, which is the web's number one source about buying a house or a car, but not for medical advice.
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Nonsense. We got it covered. I figure if we can give investment advice, legal advice, spousal divorce advice, pot whiskey and music advice, then medical advice is a no-brainer. Unless the question is about the brain then it would quite obviously be a "brainer".
 
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nfrine said:
And pay for the surgery with cash. :cool:

Seriously, DesMoines Orthopedic Surgery (DMOS) in the Des Moines area is solid.
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But never waste your money on a NEW surgery. Get a used surgery and let some poor sap take the hit of driving a new surgery off the lot.
 
Get an MRI done to be sure. I messed up my knee during a high school basketball game. I could walk on it fine and just had some tenderness. Athletic trainer and doc said it was probably just a sprain. I tried to rest & rehab on my own over the next month. Running suicides in practice one day the knee totally gave out. I’m sure it was torn the whole time and we just didn’t know it. Turned out I tore the meniscus and MCL too. Depends on your age and level of fitness, but you’ll have a good level of recovery about 6 months out and feel comfortable pushing yourself again at about one year out.
 
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