4 months still can't do straight leg lift

[Sammi121]

Hi,
In February after a fall, I had an operation to repair my patellar tendon and mpfl (there was also an osteochondral fragment). I've had physiotherapy and the leg bending and walking is getting better, however, I can't do a straight leg lift- at all. Its been about 4 months since the operation. I had another MRI scan (to check if the quadricep tendon was intact as it is not firing at all) but it showed nothing new. I've only got pain around my kneecap. I don't have any numbness in my leg or pain in my back but I'm going to have a back MRI scan. The doctor said he's never seen anything like it. I don't know how I can fix it or what diagnosis it could be. Also, I'm a young adult so otherwise fairly healthy. Can someone please help?

[Brandon123]

It can be tricky to get the quads to fire normally after any kind of knee injury/surgery, have you brought this up with your PT? Sometimes they use TENS to "wake up" quads that do not fire properly after injuries/surgeries.

[Sammi121]

Yeah my physiotherapist is worried too, hasn't said anything about electric muscle stimulation yet, thanks. I'll ask

[tinydinosaur]

you can also do it at home by gently tapping on the muscle as you try and do quad contractions. my quad doesn't respond to muscle stim at all, but the tapping helped.

[Torao]

What sort of things are they having you do for this?

I would recommend things like laying on your back and tightening the quads, while pulling your toes toward your head and pushing your heels away from your head.

Also if you have somebody who can help you, have them hold your leg up and see if you can work the negative by slowing your leg on the way down.

[bootyx]

Hi, did the surgeon remove the bone fragment?