surgery for osgood schlatters

[vix]

my 15 year old son has had osgood schlatters in both knees for about 10 months now which has got progressivley worse.he played regular rugby before it became bad  and attended a gym with a rehab programme from a physio but it has got to the stage where he does not attend school anymore as the pain is so severe ,he has to walk with crutches .The surgeon has just operated on both knees and I believe he had to drill both growth plates, he then immobolised him in plaster for 4 weeks on one leg.It has been 5 weeks since surgery . it seems like the surgery has not worked as the osgood pain is worse than before, the surgeon did say it was about 50% chance that surgery would work but the condition was deteriating so much we had to give it a go .Has anybody else had this op and how long ws recovery,he is on anti-inflammatorys but is not allowed any physio yet,He is in terrible pain and we have seen the surgeon twice since the op, he just says complete rest .can anyone help?

[Sam86]

I myself have had surgery to try and improve my OSD pain. I'm 20 but got diagnosed when I was 12. Although my pain was quite bad, espiecially when doin/after sports it wasn't as bad as what you son seems to have.

This is the first time I've heard of someone having to use crutches because of it.
I had my operation last year (I only have OSD in one knee) to remove the "lump" below my knee. I was never placed in a cast but was bandaged up for a couple of weeks. within 4 weeks I was walking around with no aids.
My doctor was very wary of giving me surgery, espiecially at a young age, I was "lucky" to have them agree to it at 19, never mind at 15 like your son.

Unfortunatly the surgery wasn't succesfull for me and I get the symptoms are the same, if not worse than what they were before. I am now awaiting another consultation for a second oppinion.

I really feal for your son, at such an active age aswell it must be really difficult to be immobalised and to have surgery on both knees at once.
I notice this was posted about a year ago so I really hope that it's all been cleared up now. It'll be great to hear how it's turned out.

Samantha Taylor

[vix]

well , a year on and we finally have improvement, he sat all his GCSE's at home as he was still housebound at the time and passed.He had made a mental note that by sixth form he would try to get back to school.its now been six weeks ,he refuses to use his crutches and as long as he has his daily doses of tramadol and paracetomol he seems to be just about coping.We saw the surgeon last week who said his was one of the worst cases( the op didnt work) but he was very pleased to see improvement but he still maintains that my son has another year before the OSD will go.Thank you for your concern

[fawn2388]

As an 18 year old - I can totally relate to this. I had one attempt to remove the bump at the age of of 16 2 years post diagonise along with a piece of mesicus removed, that attempt failed, I had a second attempt 6 months later in which the bump grew back, but wasn't painful. Recently I dislocated my knee which required a third surgery and a third attempt to correct the bump, actually the surgery indicated the removal the tibucule. Osgood Schlatters has totally shattered my skiing and gymnastics career - and your son isn't alone in having to use crutches for Osgood Schlatters, mine also go that bad before it got good enough to walk - than it required surgery.

And thats rare for a female.