Meniscus :

have you had meniscal transplant? tell me more - - Posted by niamh (niamh), 2 November 2004

hey there

this is addressed to all people who have had a meniscal transplant.

i am a 28 year old woman who is now considering a meniscal transplant to be done in gent in belgium.

i would like to hear from people who have had it done;
positive points, negative points, recovery, would you do it again, how long was your recovery period, did you have keyhole surgery, did you experience some rejection, did your knee get worse, did you have to have follow on operations, what sort of sport can you now do painfree, what sort of sport is still painful, did you have pain like me and it is now gone,  etc?

a bit more to my story: had a sport injury 11 years ago, had crucial ligament replacement and removal of most of both menisci.  ligaments fine.  since then have had pain on inside of knee in meniscus area as soon as i put some stress on it, ie walking on uneven ground, easy sport, etc.  it basically prevents me from doing any sport, even very gentle sport.  seen numerous doctors and done numerous therapies (physio to acupuncture).  now suggestion of meniscal transplant.  

do you think this is the solution for me? have you experienced anything similar to me?

i am rather scared of makeing my knee worse rather than better as my day-to-day life (slightly restricted to avoid knee pain) is practically pain-free.  i would like to be able to do a bit of sport (just to have a bit of a fitness level) and i would like to do be able to do some physical work without pain.  my pain, rather than the future positive benefits regarding arthritis, is my motivation for the operation.

got anything to tell me? i am grateful to anybody who takes the time to reply to me.  

thanks a lot!!
Posted by heather_k (heather k from wales), 3 November 2004

Niamh, Ive sent you an Instant Message, just click on the bit at the very top of the page which says 'Good Morning Niamh, you have 1 message'.
Posted by galaxyrigging (galaxyrigging), 7 January 2005

Let me know what you find out... lots of questions but no one to answer them except doctors who can only repeat what they read or have been told.
Posted by pegleg78 (pegleg78), 7 January 2005

Hi,
I had a medial meniscus transplant on my right knee in March of 2001 and a lateral meniscus transplant in June of 2001. It was a very long, painful recovery that was full of many setbacks, but now I am very glad that I had it done. I was nonweightbearing for 8 wekks after each surgery and was on crutches from March 2001 untill January of 2002. I have since had other surgeries and found out that my medial transplant has healed a little crooked and my body is now starting to reject it, but there are no porblems with the lateral one.

Right now my cativity level is not actually what I wanted to it to be, but I am happy with it.
My expectations changed, they were to return to basketball and softball at first, but I had amny complications and now my expectations are just to be pain free and be able to walk.

I would be happpy to answere anymore questions you have.
Melanie
Posted by strauch (strauch), 26 January 2005

Hi there,
My 17 year old daughter is currently on a waiting list for a meniscal transplant in Belgium.  I was wondering if you had yours done yet, or if you decided to go through with it.  I hear its rougher than a acl repair? Any info you have on this(recovery time, pain,outcome) would be great. Thanks.

This old Forum was so valuable that we have kept it as an archive. It is just for reference. If you want to ask questions or offer advice, there is also a current Bulletin Board which you can access from our home page.

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