Collateral Ligaments and other non-cruciate tendons & ligaments around the knee :

grade 3 acl/mcl, surgery coming up - - Posted by karen_andrea (karen_andrea), 18 March 2003

I'm new, be gentle. I posted this earlier today only to find I posted it under the wrong topic.  

I had a ski injury on 1/7 this year and was diagnosed with grade 3 acl and mcl tears. (totally severed)  Up until a week ago I thought I was just going to have arthroscopic acl reconstruction with an autograph.  After seeing my OS last week I learned my mcl hadn't healed at all and now I will be having open knee surgery (to repair the mcl) and arhtroscopic acl on the same day.  I will need an allograph, not too thrilled about that.  Has anyone out there has this experience and how did it go for you?  What was your recovery like? Sugery is scheduled on April 4th,  Any advise?
Posted by susanrdh (susanrdh), 22 April 2003

Hello,

    Wow, I am now 2 wks post-op from having my MCL reconstructed w/an allo, an ACL revision w/an allo, and a Lateral release.     Sounds like we have things to talk about??      I am sorry to hear about your skiing accident  and I feel for what you are going through 110%.     Did you have your surgery on April 4th??     Mine was just a few days later on April 7th.     I reinjured my knee on Dec. 22nd by torqing my knee going for a forehand while my foot was planted on the tennis court.      I knew something was seriously wrong w/the amount of pain I was feeling.      I did have the same knee & ACL reconstructed w/a hamstring autograft 23 months ago now so this surgery has not been on my happy list as of late.      I would appreciate hearing from you and please feel free to email me at:  susanrdh@earthlink.net      I am very curious to know how you are doing.      Hope to talk to you soon!

Sue    
Posted by ATsoccergirl (ATsoccergirl), 22 April 2003

Allographs are not as big of an issue with MCLs as they are will ACLs.  The big problem with an ACL allograph, is that there is a higher incidence of failure due to the relatively avascular status of the ACL.  This is why ACLs need to  be reconstructed, they have very little blood supply so they are unable to heal on their own.  The MCL, on the other hand, is in the synovial fluid and has a fairly good blood supply.  There is less chance of allograft failure with an MCL than an ACL.  I am a competitive soccer player, and my OS was going to use an allograft to reconstruct my MCL.  It was later decided aganst since my MCL has finally started to tighten up.  He said that I would have no problems returning to soccer afterwards.  

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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