Please help me understand why I have to wait for TKR

[4everpained]

I'm only 32, but after 4 surgeries I'm spent. Mosaicplasty works, but only for 3-5 years. Now I get to face another.

[Cinammo]

I am sure that if you look hard you will find a doctor willing to do a knee replacement on you.

[blackbeltgirl]

Time for another opinion.   This is the 1st I've heard that mosaicplasty is only expected to last 3-5 years.  Most of the published research has much higher expectations.  Have you consulted surgeons who specalize in ACI as an alternative?  Have you had/do you need some sort of osteotomy to correct an alignment issue?  Alignment issues can cause the original defect, and definitely affect how long any replacement technique will last.

Don't give up, but do a lot more reaserch before having more surgery.

[Beauzer]

I'm 31 and had an OATS (same as mosaicplasty) almost a year ago on my MFC.  I have some extenuating circumstances (recurrent medial instablity, arthritis in other areas of the joint, AVN of the femoral condyle) that make me not the ideal candidate for OATS.  Even with that, my OS's (two of them) think my OATS should last 5-10 years before TKR.  So I'm not sure why the 3-5 years!

In my case, I could get TKR now.  But at my age and with my activity level (I spend 80+ hours a week on my feet) my TKR wouldn't probably last 10 years.  Even with my postop problems of AVN and fracturing my femoral condyle, the OATS has definitely been worth it.

As long as I'm gentle with the knee, it lets me work all day and rarely need any pain medication (I'm talking tylenol here).  Before the OATS I had pain so bad I didn't sleep for 6 months.  Even if I only get a few years out of it, it was well worth it.  I've already had 9 surgeries on this knee and I know for sure that I will need a TKR in the future.  Yes it's annoying, but the OATS has given me my life back and 5-10 years is a significant amount of time.

[4everpained]

My problem's started in  2000. I've been by 2 D.O.'s that it may not last 5 years so I've been lucky so for. My recent injury was after 2years working 8Hrs a day & 7 days aweek on the concrete floors of a machine shop. Now workmens comp and my insurance are batteling it out to see who pays for this round of repairs. I'm starting to feel like an old car.Works fine for awhile then back into the shop.