Nick's Medial Plica Excision & Fat Pad

I would like to share my story so I can help others who may find themselves in a similar situation that I found myself in. I had a heavy fall onto the pavement in October 2007 and right knee swelled up and became painful and could no longer run anymore. I saw my GP in January 2008 and he referred me to an NHS Physio but it took over 3 months to see him and when I finally saw him I was given some leg muscle strengthening exercises to do at home.

My Physio did spot that I have maltracking in both knee which is why he wanted me to build up my leg muscles as it can be helpful if you have maltracking problems. My knee did not improve so was referred to the Hospital where I saw another Physio who examined my knee and ordered for an MRI scan.

I had my MRI scan done and got the results back when I went back to see the Physio again who told me my MRI came up normal and do not really have a knee problem apart form a bit of swelling and fluid around the fat pad and was told it could be treated with ultra sound so was referred back to the 1st Physio I saw who did weekly ultrasound therapy. After about 6 sessions still no improvements so was once again referred back to the Hospital.

The next option was to give a cortisone injection into the fat pad guided by ultra sound to locate the area causing the problems. I got a date for injection in January 2009 but when the OS was looking for area to inject with ultra sound machine he could not see any potental problems or damage so did not go ahead with the injection.

I was not getting anywhere and the Hospital Physio became annoying and useless and thought knee problem was psychological so in the end ended up seeing an OS at his Private Clinic.

I saw Mr Green a very sought after OS in the UK and West Midlands region at his private Clinic in Edgbaston in April 2009 and he located the area of pain straight away. I may have done some damage to the bottom of the kneecap and gave me a cortisone injection on the lateral side of the knee where I kept on getting sharp pain and catching and said he was happy to see me again on the NHS which he also works for.

I saw him again in June 2009 on the NHS and told him my knee still not improved and had swelling at the bottom of my kneecap so decided to scope my right knee to take a closer look inside even though he was reluctant to do it he had no other options left.

On Monday 16th November 2009 I had my surgery and when he looked inside my knee found problems with my fat pad and plica so removed them both as they where causing me all the pain and discomfort over the 2 year period since my fall.

I had my medial plica and fat pad excision during the surgery and now recovery from it which takes a while as knee feels tight and painful when bending my knee 90 degrees and cannot squat yet.

I went for post up appointment in December 2009 and was shown a photo of the plica and fat pad which were very large and was rubbing against my bone. I was told it may take 3 to 6 months for knee to fully heal up again and not to kneel down until pain and swelling have subsided.

Thats my story so far about my knee problem and see Mr Green again in 3 months time to see if my right knee improving or not. Its too early to say if surgery has helped or not and will update my blog in a few months time.