Bone breaks around the knee :

Hot knee after TP fracture - - Posted by josie (josie), 30 September 2004

Hi there to all,

I was just curious to see if anyone else has experienced this:

I badly fractured my tibial plateau, damaging a chunk if cartilige, about 7 months ago. The break required the usual: screws and plates etc...

I'm pretty much on the mend now, (apart from occasional aches and not having 100% ROM) but throughout my whole recovery, my knee has felt really hot, a bit like when you touch your head when you've got a fever.  It doesn't particularly bother me, but is a bit odd, and I wondered whether anyone else has experienced this after knee surgery?  

Does anyone out there know why I've got a hot knee?


Posted by Timo (Timo), 30 September 2004

It is friction.

There are things moving around in your knee that aren't normally there (wires, plates etc) and when they move and rub against the bones this creates friction.
Posted by Timo (Timo), 30 September 2004

I have exactly the same feeling in my knee
Posted by KNEECAP (KNEECAP), 30 September 2004

i dont think its friction, i shattered my knee cap a month ago and my scar has heeled over. But i am still in a brace and cannot bend my knee for another 2 weeks.

So my knee is not any motion and it is always hot. I think its your body acting against your hardware
Posted by Timo (Timo), 1 October 2004

I asked my doc why my knee was hot and he told me it was friction and told me why
Posted by HHB (MHB), 1 October 2004

Josie,

Does your knee still swell? Is its color "pinker" than the uninjured knee when hot? The experience I've had with what you describe is just one fractured patella, six months ago.

Recovery went well, but all along, the knee had varying and decreasing amounts of heat/swelling -- to me, a sign of inflammation, which did not interfere with knee function, did not cause pain.

After reading during recovery time, I thought I understood that ongoing heat/swelling/inflammation supported continued scar tissue production and also, over time, that inflammation byproducts could damage articulate cartilage, so I wanted to get rid of it since everything else was so close to "normal."

At six months out from surgery, I re-visited my OS, who confirmed that the knee was doing very well. I described the different combinations of regimens I had followed to try to get rid of the heat/swelling/inflammation, which actually was decreasing, but gradually and by very small amounts over the longterm. The OS told me that same can go on for quite a while, each person basically having a different time frame.

I wondered about "foreign  bodies" in the knee -- the hardware, being a source of inflammation. Was told that possibly yes, but better to wait a year to see what the situation was then.

I also asked my brother, who lives some distance from me and is an orthorpedic surgeon. He told me that the injury/surgery had of course damaged the knee circulation and that reaching the no inflammation goal would take a while.

My last stab at finding out about the "why" of this situation was asking this site's new posting member, Dr Grelsamer -- an orthopedic knee-hip surgeon, about it on the General forum. I found his reply reassuring, but still no explanation of the "why." You can read his reply by clicking your mouse

HERE

So I guess I'll just proceed, enjoy the recovered knee, which doesn't hurt, performs as it did before injury, has basically been a cooperative "good little knee" and see what more time can do for it.

Don't know, of course, if this experience is relevant to yours (tp vs patella fx), but that's the situation here.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery -- MHB

Posted by kgrosskurth (Kathy G), 4 October 2004

Hi, Josie. I am thinking it is just a side effect from the swelling. As long as it is not bothering you, i.e., you are not experiencing any strange pains because of it, I wouldn't worry about it. However, you may want to ask your OS just to give you peace of mind.

At any rate, I wish you all the best in your recovery!
Posted by Joy (Joy), 6 October 2004

I had surgery for  fractured patella last November and my knee is still producing mild warmth on occasion.  It is not constant, nor does it become as hot as it once did; however,  it still happens often enough to cause  me to wonder about it.  It is warm when I wake up in the morning while still  in bed.  I no longer have hardware in my knee.  It must be some remaining inflammation.  

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