Bone breaks around the knee :

questions on cracked knee cap - - Posted by Avery (Avery), 22 November 2004

Hi, im new to this forum. I just hurt my knee last tuesday. I have a fractured knee cap. At the time there was alot of swelling from blood and it was very painful.  The doctor drained it out and it felt so much better. He took 300cc out of it. I was prescribed tylenol 3 and an antiimflamitory but I am not feeling any pain and no swelling.

I wear a knee brace and use a crutch to get around though because I have no control over the useless limb. I cannot raise it laying down and it cannot bear weight. Im going to a "fracture clinic" this week. What should I expect there? Also, Im sitting down right now so I took off the brace, good or bad idea? I will put it on again before I get up. Am I supposed to always keep my knee straight for recovery reasons?

ps, I also broke my lower thumb, lol

thanks

Posted by kgrosskurth (Kathy G), 23 November 2004

Hi, Avery. I just wanted to welcome you to KneeGeeks. For some reason, this part of the board has been very slow - maybe due to the holidays. But we have several knee fracture sufferers or former sufferers who lurk periodically. I am sure they will respond when they see your inquiry. A general word of advice is to follow your Dr.'s orders and to do your exercises to regain your muscle mass and mobility (my, how quickly those muscles deteriorate, eh  )

I wish you all the best in your recovery and again welcome!  
Posted by Rado (Rado), 24 November 2004

Hi Avery,

I was advised to keep the knee brace all the time (even during the night) with the exception of having a shower or physio.

I broke my knee cap in mid October and started with the physio three weeks later. Until then I kept my leg straight in a knee brace. When I started with a physio I couldn't bend my knee and couldn't raise my leg while laying down. As you can imagine this was a very frustrating experience - I'm in my late thirties and was reasonably fit before the accident.

I can bend my knee 54 degrees now, however still cannot raise my leg - apart from a fractured patella I had severed both patella and quad tendons and that is probably slowing down the progress. However, I've learned (mostly from other users of this forum) that a recovery takes a long time.

I have always listened to my doctor with the only exception - I've got rid of painkillers as soon as possible and switched to a homeopathy instead. Only time will show whether it was a correct decision.

Wishing you a speedy recovery,
Rado

Posted by Avery (Avery), 24 November 2004

Thanks, Ill leave it on when I sleep now too. I have woken up in the night with my knee bent quite a bit and then I straighten it and go back to bed.

I also cant do a leg raise lying down. My fracture clinic is tomorrow and Ill learn more about my injury and make a new post or add to this one.

I was hopeing that since I dont feel pain in my knee and that since it is barely swollen, that its not as bad as others. I figured Id be better in a month, but from what I read on this site, recovery could take a year. Im a good age for recovery and prior to this I was in good shape. As soon as my thumb cast comes off, Im  hitting the gym for some upper body.

Thanks for the advice, I'll post new information here tomorrow and I hope to hear from some more people. You are all very helpful.
Posted by Avery (Avery), 25 November 2004

Went to the fracture clinic today. I thought I would be there for a few hours. I was only there for 15 minutes.  Doctor showed me the x ray. Hurt my knee a little with his fingers. I was able to lift my leg lying down.

He basically told me to just wear my leg brace for 6 weeks until the knee cap healed or my quadriceps and another muscle could ripp it in two peices.

Im not going to require any surgery or hardware and no cast. Only a little physio once I can use my leg again. I cant wait to play some hockey again.

Even though Im poor and cant afford good shin pads for it, Im going to buy some anyways so I never get injured like this again.
Posted by Rado (Rado), 25 November 2004

Avery,

I think that you're very lucky!  

How did you get your injury?

Have a good weekend,
Rado
Posted by Avery (Avery), 27 November 2004

I was playing hockey in a non checking league. Since it is no checking and I am poor I just borrowed some old equipment and bought a new helmet.

I got checked and slid into the boards. The checker at the same time fell too and slid into my legs as I hit the boards.
(Made a nice knee cap cracker sandwhich)

Here are some pictures. 2MB

http://v5o5jotqkgfu3btr91t7w5fhzedjaoaz8igl.unbf.ca/~d1k4n/Downloads/HOCKEY%20INJURY.rar


Posted by kgrosskurth (Kathy G), 29 November 2004

Hi, Avery. It's great you will not need surgery! However, you may want to consider therapy to strengthen the quads after you are completely healed in that kneecap. Like you, I had trouble doing straight leg lifts, and it was because my quads had deteriorated to the point where they were not working at all. The PT used electrostim to retrain the quads to work. Now my bad leg is almost as strong as my good leg. It will take some time and work, but you will make it if you don't give up.

Again, thanks for the update, and keep us posted on your progress!
Posted by KNEECAP (KNEECAP), 29 November 2004

you are very lucky and should be back up to normal soon. It may be longer than 6 weeks for hockey though, just listen to your doctor
Posted by Avery (Avery), 8 December 2004

Thanks for the adivice.

I got a letter for my appointment 2 weeks earlier than expected. Its on December 23rd.

Im hopeing they tell me I can take off my knee brace and walk with a cane or something and do some physio.

I can see my quad getting weaker like you said. It had a good amount of muscle there before, so its holding on.

I got my cast off my hand for my broken thumb yesterday.

Its all stiff and looked dead with bruising and the skin was unhealthy. Doing alot better today with it though.

I have to stretch it to regain my rang of motion i used to have. putting too much presure on it will rebreak it though. Another 4 weeks before its 100%
Posted by lizl (lizl), 10 December 2004

Avery,

Welcome aboard, though we are always sorry that a new person has to be here!

I sounds like you've already gotten some good advice, so I just wanted to add that patience is required of a knee patient. It sounds trite, I know. Having goals is a good thing, just try not to be too tough on yourself in regard to how long it may take to get to those goals.

I'm almost a year from my last surgery, and I am surprised that I still notice little bits of progress from time to time.

Your quad will deteriorate, just as the muscles in your thumb have. The difference is that your leg is a weight-bearing mechanism, and it will take some rehab to get it back up to speed. Just accept that, emotionally, and concentrate right now on not disturbing the patella.

While ORIF surgery is tramautic, wires do hold the patella tightly together to promote healing. You don't have any of that, so you really must behave. Wear the brace all the time. You do not want the joint to heal in a non-union fashion. The raw edges of the patella need to touch in order to fuse, and you absolutely do not want accidental flexion to do more damage.

Getting a knee to be able to weight-bear smoothly and reliably while flexing it (such as going down a stairstep) is the last stage of recovery. Though they work together, flexion comes first, then strength.

LizL

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.

Hunting for information is a slow process. browsing through these topics will probably raise a lot of questions in your mind. Don't forget that there is a whole site behind these forums - just click the 'KNEEguru' home button at the top left of your page when you are ready to access it.