Medial Femoral Condyle(MFC)

[NickDC]

Hi

I have just had an athroscopy on the L.K + removal of loose bodies and chondroplasty. There was 2.5cm area of cartilage loss on the MFC encroaching onto the medial side of the intercondylar notch. According to the surgeon this was an old injury as there was plenty of mature fibrous tissue instead. I would love to speak to someone who has had a similair injury to get an idea of what recovery I am likely to make. All the best and Thankyou for your advice  

[Shazinoz]

I to have a "hole" in my medical femoral condylar carliage mine is about 8mm+ last time they checked (that was duringmy 1st reco in 1994 but nothing was said about in during the 2nd one in 1998 ) so maybe I will ask them to check again if I can get a surgeon to look at this injury this time (again a torn/stretched ACL and bad MCL this time and who knows what else).

[NickDC]

Did you have full use of your knee B4 your latest injury? or has the 'hole' caused further problems.
Are there any supplements you take or medication you would recommend ?

Thankyou for your help                    

[Shazinoz]

I never regained full flexion but I don;t know if that was form the "hole" or just me and my other problems.

[mj/usa]

Hi!

I just had oats to fix the hole in the mfc--mine was 1 cm square.  I am now almost 10 weeks post op and the difference is enormous.  I can't kneel or squat yet, but the knee feels great and I am confident that it will be almost as good as new in another couple of months.
By the way, I have almost full flexion (about 120 or so) but can't seem to get the last couple of degrees of extension, so I am still limping around a bit. On the hand, it is only 3+ weeks since I got out of the brace and off the crutches, so I guess patience is the order of the day.

MJ

[NickDC]

Excuse my ignorance, what does OATS mean?

[mj/usa]

oats= osteochondral autograft (or allograft)  transplant surgery

The surgeon takes a plug of healthy cartilage+bone from a non-weight-bearing part of the knee (in my case it was the outer [lateral] edge of the femoral condyle) and puts it into the hole (on the mfc) I was off the leg for 6 weeks to give the bone a chance to heal. So far everything looks great and the plug seems to have "merged" with the healthy articular cartilage around it, creating anew smooth surface.  The donor hole heals with fibrocartilage, but since it is part of the joint that doesn't get too much use, it shouldn't be a problem.

i hope that answers your question!

MJ