MUA expectations

[Rothera]

I'm having a simple MUA and cortisone shot next week to resolve flexion problems. I understand it's a 5-10 minute procedure, I can go home straightaway and should be back at work the next day. So all sounds good but I would love to hear from anyone who has had a this (no surgery, just MUA) to give me some idea of whether my expectations are correct!

Is the knee likely to be fully flexing straight afterwards or will it go back for a bit and then lossen up as I go through exercises? Is it likely to be very sore?

Many thanks

[missmyknee]

Hi

First, I will say I have not had an MUA, now I will say that you will very likely experience some pain because your tight muscles and tissues will be stretched and scar tissue will break. That's why you have to be put to sleep to do it.  You will be very sore when it's over and for several days after. Yours is being done 4 mos after your last posted surgery of March 2012, on your signature line , which is the outer limits of time because scar tissue starts to become fibrotic. MUA's are better done in the early weeks after surgery when scar tissue is still in the wispy stage. They also will send the patient into PT right after it is done to work on ROM so gains in flexion from MUA are not lost. Complications of MUAs are fractured bones, ruptured tendons and muscle tears , and injury to cartilage.

According to the AF experts, it is best to do a LOA ( lysis of adhesions) before the MUA , then perform a GENTLE MUA. This way scar tissue is removed. By just doing an MUA, all that is done is break scar tissue without removing it and causing micro tissue tearing, which causes inflammation, which causes the cycle of scar tissue formation.

All the AF experts will do a LOA before the MUA and will only do an MUA alone, in the first few weeks after surgery when scar tissue is wispy stage.

 Here is a link to an article Dr Peter Millett wrote regarding AF.  The second paragraph talks about MUAs

http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEtalk/index.php?topic=24930

http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEtalk/index.php?topic=45897.0

http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEtalk/index.php?topic=35462.0

http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEtalk/index.php?topic=28190.msg217669#msg217669

Put MUA in the search box of this website to read past posts about MUA. There are 58 pages of posts discussing MUA to help you out.

Make sure your doctor knows what he is doing and how much pressure he plans on using. By being an informed patient, you can ask appropriate questions and also getting a second opinion is beneficial.  See an OS who is very knowledgeable on scar tissue. There is a list in the information hub , under arthrofibrosis

                                                *********************

Whoops !!!  I read your last surgery as March at the bottom of your signature line and just saw 2 surgeries above , you had a June 2012 surgery, so you are actually 5 weeks after your debridement surgery. You are just at the point where tissue is pliable but not wispy in which case your doctor could do a gentle MUA, the emphasis on gentle. In either case , the risks are the same and you still will likely feel pain from having tight tissues and muscles stretched beyond what you could do on your own. You still will need to work on ROM right after the MUA and days to come, so you don't lose what was gained from the MUA. I would be surprised if you would feel like working the next day.

Rather than delete the info above the stars, I'll keep it up for others to read.



Pam

[Rothera]

Well, having had this done today, I now know what to expect!
Anaesthetist set the scene by saying it will hurt....a lot....so he gave me the level of pain meds and sleepy stuff that he would use for a TKR!
All over very quickly and the results were immediate and brilliant.
6 hrs later and the pain has absolutely kicked in. I also had cortisone and the knee is beginning to feel a bit full of "cement" again. But I'm regularly bending just to keep that wonderful ROM. Gone from about 55 to 120 in one day!

Very pleased so far. (apart from the agony).