Lars Ligmament ACL 2nd failure????

[missblossom]

I think that my second attempt at a Lars Ligament has unraveled (the first time the screw ended up on the knee joint for 4 months - 2 physios later I finally got an xray after begging the secretary at the surgeons office to give me an appointment).

Right now, my knee feels loose, painful and is visibly swollen. If I rollover in bed the pain wakes me up. It cracks and clicks when I walk. I keep falling over. Should I:
a. get a new surgeon and start again (at a huge $ cost) - I am still paying for the first op.
b. get the current surgeon to fix is again. or
c. get the current surgeon to fix it using a hamstring tendon or other?

I have an appointment next Thursday with the current surgeon, but in the meantime what should I do? I am scared and upset and in pain.

[missblossom]

OK so I made an appointment with another orthopedic  surgeon and he said that my dodgy knee was less stable than the normal knee and the dodgy knee was Okaaaaay but like a bungee that finished just before the head hit the ground.

The current surgeon said there was no obvious difference between the 2 legs.

Both asked for an MRI ($300 or so dollars no medicare or health fund rebate).

So Thursday I am off for an MRI to see whether this pain is because I have no muscle tone and loose cartilage is floating about or if the LARS procedure is doomed to fail.

[Kaputt_Knee]

Wherever you go find a surgeon who is experienced at carrying out revisions. They are nowhere near as straightforward to perform as the original reconstruction. I used the same OS for 2 of my revisions on my right knee and had real difficulties getting him to accept that a different approach was needed when the graft failed a second time. For the revison of my left knee reconstruction. I went straight to someone who specialized in revising failed or incorrectly placed grafts.

Experienced revison surgeons are also more clued up on other, not so obvious reasons for grafts failing and look outside of the usual suspects of not following protocol, not doing good rehab, etc. If the graft were faulty from the onset, no matter how hard you rehab, things can still go wrong. It may not the be the fault of the graft choice, but maybe something completely different.

Sue 

[missblossom]

Yeah right. I ended up going to an OS for a consultation who has been doing it for a long time. H'es a bit older and told me that it was certainly not in my mind.

He said that there was significant laxity on the right knee, and the current surgeon said there was no difference between my left and right knee. Who to believe.

Both ordered MRI's so I shelled out the $300 non claimable for a large number of images of my knee. I can't read them, so can't comments, but I am seeing the 2nd surgeon for his thoughts, and when my original surgeon comes back from holidays in 3 weeks, I will see him for an analysis and make a decision as to how to proceed. The current OS told me that my Lars op had a lifetime warranty, so expecting that any revisions/clean up would be non-billed.

I'm still paying off the last one, so it is a major consideration, but if I don't think he's up to the job, I may need to bite the bullet for a hamstring op (which I so don't want to have to get).