Thoha's Story part 2

1 month after ACL reconstruction

I have done the knee surgery and I am now 1 month and 5 days post operation. The surgery went smoothly. I will give a short description of the surgery.

The surgery is called arthroscopy (Keyhole surgery). Two holes are drilled at either sides of the knee. From one hole the arthroscope is inserted. This provides the inside view of the knee to the surgeon. And from the other hole the instruments needed are inserted. At first, a diagnosis is made so that the problem areas can be known accurately. In my case Grade1 tear of medial meniscus and Grade3 tear of ACL (Anterior cruciate ligament). The meniscus is torn and smoothened. Next the teared ACl is removed and the areas cleared. It seems that I had notch stenosis too which is a risk factor for ACL injuries. Then a drill is inserted and drilled
the two bones , shin bone and thigh bone to insert the new ligament. After this, the ligament is harvested either from patella tendon or Hamstring tendon. There is cadavar tendons too.But they are very expensive.Also the artificial ones are there which are weaker. . Each tendon  has it's pros and cons. I chose the hamstring tendon. After preparing the tendon (actually folded to make 4 strands) by the surgeon, it's inserted to the drilled hole using threads. Finally it's tightly screwed either with metallic or bio-absorbable ones. In my case it was bio-absorbable screws ( two of them for two bones). Again, the screws too have pros and cons. After the operation there will be two stitched holes on the knee and  a stitched cut on the upper shin (about 4-5cms).


It is a painful surgery. The knee and the muscles become stiff and the rehab time where physiotherapy is done is extremely tough. Of course there is a place numb down the shin, it's because during the operation a nerve (The peroneal nerve if I am correct)  which runs on the upper shin is cut. Also the leg swells like anything in the first days and the Quadricep muscles (The upper thigh muscle) don't work for over a month ( a counter reaction by the body to stop further swelling).

My status now:

* Swelling is reduced almost completely
* Wounds almost healed
* Knee bend upto about 115 degree
* Could walk a litttle without crutches
* Could fully bear weight

If there are others like me, I would be very glad if they share their stories. :)