The patello-femoral joint :

Anyone ever had work done after ttt - - Posted by denorin7 (denorin7), 21 May 2003

Hello again-

 Just curious if anyone has ever had any work done on their knee after ttt. I had it done about 3 years ago and till had problems. This past march i had an operation to remove scar tissue and i am 2 months post op with more problems then before this recent surgery.
 
 My knee locks into a straight position after i have it fully extended for a while. I cant even bend it unless i turn my right leg outwards then it releases and i can bend it. Not the most comfortable feeling in the world.
When i get up out of a chair and turn to step it feels and sounds as though it pops out of place.Lots of throbbing and discomfort because i have to constantly extend it and bend it for it to feel ok.

  I asked my pt if this is because the leg is still week. They said that weakness has nothing to do with the problems that i am experiencing (been doing pt 3 days a week for 2 months now) that my knee still has scar tissue or is still not tracking properly from my ttt surgery.
When i went to my orthapedic surgeon he checked it out and noticed what it was doing but said that he beleives that it is still weak and that when he went in their to clean it out noticed nothing wrong Now i am completely confused.

Some of my concern has to do with the ttt surgery 3 yrs ago with two broken screws and the bone shifted up 1/4 inch. The doc tends to avoid that conversation only saying that xray shows it healed fine. I wonder if this is his way of avoiding a mistake.So i would like to know if anyone has had something similar where they had to go back and and do it over or realign it or anything. I feel like giving up i have been through so much with this knee i begin to wonder if those old pirates had the right idea with the wooden peg.Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.


                                      Thanks again
                                             Mark
Posted by sha22 (Sharon), 21 May 2003

Mark,
Well, I don't have problems similar to yours but I still have alot of pain and pressure at the bottom of my kneecap when I sit after my TTT last July. I see my OS tomorrow to find out if I am going to have more work done or not. I saw him 2 weeks ago and he said that he might want to go in again and elevate my patella by one more centimeter using an allograft. So tomorrow I'm going back with my mom to discuss this more in depth with him. I really trust my OS and I don't think was because of a mistake on his part, I think that he's being honest with me when he tells me that he thought that 1 centimeter of elevation was enough for me but in the end it turns out that it wasn't. So that's what I may have to have done and I'll know more tomorrow. If you have any other questions feel free to ask-I'll post tomorrow after I see my OS with the outcome of the visit and more details if he does decide that I definitely need this. Hope this helps!!

Sharon
Posted by denorin7 (denorin7), 21 May 2003

Hey Sharon-
    Thanks for the input. Now the procedure that was done was after your ttt correct? So it is possible to go back in after ttt to repair and improve the knee? Did you have the screws removed after the ttt was healed? I still cannot kneel or squat and it has been 3 years.
                                       Thanks Again
                                              Mark
Posted by Jennie (Jennie), 21 May 2003

Hi Mark,

   Sorry to hear that you are having problems I had a TTT last november and I am 7 days post op from my last surgery. So yes I did have another procedure after the TTT. My kneecap was still subluxing and was very painful I also felt as though I had scar tissue because my knee was very lump and tender to the touch. He used a donor tendon and donor bone to reinforce and secure the kneecap so hopefully this will work but I still have not goten the bandages off so its still too soon to tell oh and the problem that I thought was scar tissue turned out to be a reaction to internal sutures that he used so I just wanted to let you know that I did have to have an operation after the TTT and it was 6 months later Hope this helped you in some way and I hope that they get your knee fixed as well.

Jennie
Posted by Donna (Donna), 22 May 2003

Hi Mark,

I am one of those who has had to have more surgery after the TTT and still have problems. I had a TTT in April of 02. The procedure was done fine but it did not work for me. I continued to have pain in my knee especially when flexing it and it hung up terribly. I had horrible crepitis and it started sublxuing again.

In Feb 03 I had to have an open lateral release, agressive synovectomy, menisectomy, removal of the fat pad, lysis of adhesions ( major scar tissue removal)
and removal of 2 very large bone spurs. So how am I now? The pain is not near as bad, it only hangs up a little but I have developed a problem of a  vacuum like effect below the knee when I flex. An area below the knee is actually "sucking " in when I flex my knee. It is very bizarre. I saw my OS today and he is familiar with the problem although he did not tell me exactly what it
is called. I am wondering if it has something to do
having the fat pad removed. Anyway he said we will deal with it later because I am having shoulder surgery next week and we need to get that done first.

Maybe you can get an opinion from another OS? That's what I did after my TTT. The one who did my TTT would actually get mad because I said I still had pain and problems. I like my new OS much better.

I do feel like the last surgery did help me and I really hope it lasts because I really don't want to have knee surgery every 9 months.

I hope everything works out well for you.

Donna
Posted by hmaxwell (Heather M.), 22 May 2003

Donna,

Wow, I thought I was the only one.  I had the same sucking you describe after a removal of scar tissue and infection.  Luckily, it didn't last long, but when I had it the sucking in of air when I bent would actually open the incision and there was this nasty noise.  The OS said it was the result of 'communication with the bursa' which are little fluid filled sacs.  Mine had ruptured or something, and were inflating and deflating.  It was absolutely awful, and the sensation was enough to make me want to throw up and then pass out.  Thankfully, that's over now.  Hopefully yours goes away as everything heals.....

Heather
Posted by denorin7 (denorin7), 22 May 2003

Hello-
 Wow ok now i dont feel as awkward i thought that maybe it was just me. The doc seems to do the same to me and in a way it seems as though he wants to avoid anything else with the knee. The hard part is i am a chef for a living and i am wondering if i will be able to go back to it. I mean with the constant ongoing of knee problems i am sure i wont be able to do my normal 11 hour shifts standing and running back and forth up and down stairs all night long.
 When thy do a release what exactly does that entail? I am not familiar with some of the terms. I just want my knee to get back to normal so i can get on with my normal routine with my children and doing the other things that before i took for granted and now i miss. With the screws in the leg there are no more horsey rides from dad and no crawling on the floor playing with the 2 year old and that kinda sucks. as i am typing this with my leg up extended i just went to sit up and its stuck in place again i cant bend it this is ridiculous. Sorry it gets agravating sometimes.Anyway good luck to all and maybe a second opinion is in order.
                                      Thanks
                                        Mark
Posted by Donna (Donna), 22 May 2003

Mark,

If you look in the thread on the home page there is a section with  surgical procedures listed.  It will describe the lateral release.

Hope you find it ok.

Donna

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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