MPFL post op question

[ddavid]

Hi, New to the forum......I am 45yo male with a history of patella dislocations (a few) many subluxations........
Had a bad twist in May and decided to go back to OS....he decided on mpfl surgery...I am 2 months out post op. (left knee)

In PT now doing SLR,biking, stretching, quad sets, etc.........

I am a bit alarmed and scared as I lost an inch in my quad which I know is normal but during certain activities, walking (always with a brace) I get a quick maltracking upon going from straight to flexing before the patella gets in its groove. Not every time but enough I feel I have to hold it during some PT work.

My PT and OS said it is only a function of poor quad strength but my apprehension level is way up.......I feel like it is a regression as it is impeding my functioning.

I religiously do my PT .........being 2 months out, am I expecting a bit much too soon?

My OS says knee looks great at 1month post op and stated he would be shocked if I ever had any further dislocations.

I only play golf and no impact sports.....surprisingly, golf has never exacerbated my condition..

Still terrified and apprehensive when this tracking issue happens during exercises and walking.

Thanks for any advice or words of wisdom


David. 

[Laur03]

Hi David,

I also had an MPFL recon done, but am only about 5.5 weeks post op. The tracking issue could be from the loss of muscle. When your muscles aren't balanced, it causes issues with the knee cap tracking correctly. Do you have any other issues with the joint like a shallow trochlear groove in your knee? If you're really apprehensive about it, call your OS, sometimes just hearing something repeated to you again can help.

I get where you're coming from, as when I started the bending process I was scared that my knee cap was going to dislocate again. But the doctor said no it wouldn't, unless I did some serious damage to it. That helped a lot.

Good Luck,
Lauren

[bdmrad]

I had it done 8 years ago. was not particularly religious about the rehab. best improvement in bulk happened when I did P90X last fall. probably all the lunges and yoga.

[oohheykate]

Hey David,

I am four months post-op MPFL recon and still in rehab. I still can't go down stairs normally because my quad is so weak. It just takes time to build the muscle back up. About two weeks ago, I subluxed my kneecap doing nothing and my OS said it was due to weak muscles.

Hope this helps.

[RGrelsamer, MD]

Sight unseen, hard to say.
Quad atrophy can certainly be playing a major role, and until you get your strength back you won't know.
Your concern is understandable, but I can't see recommending more surgery at this point.
And yes, getting quad strength can be maddeningly slow...

[ddavid]

thanks for your replies.