Thread: Need help with an upcoming decision concerning ACL revision

Hi im new to this forum yet I found out that a lot of people share information on their acl experiences. I dont do any extreme sports since i wanted to keep myself safe only played college basketball.

I had acl reconstruction 14 months ago. I dont want to get into specifics since everyone will consider that i have been operated by a butcher (come to think of it i think so too). Long story short i cant do anything with the new graft. I shouldve returned to sports around 8 months but i cant even walk properly.

It turned out that the doctors fucked up the reconstruction totally and im not overstating here.

Had ACL PTBTB graft along with partial meniscectomy of the medial meniscus and was extremely happy with it in the beginning since I saw that all the pros have this graft done. However, in the end it turned out that there has been malpractice conducted in both the harvest site and the positioning of the holes. MY GRAFT is nearly a 1 cm off the ideal placeand also the harvest site hurts a lot where the Patellar tendon connects with the Tibia. I get a lot of anterior pain which is to the point of being excruciating. The harvest site has now a large tumor like lump that is protruding about 1,2 cm compared to my right leg.

Nobody really knows what has happened the doctor denies all accusations and im left a cripple. Had biodegradable screws inserted that probably have a negative effect on my body also .

Im now at the brink of madness and even become suicidal at times with all of this BS. I was a very active and talented athelete and i got screwed with the operation so badly that it just doesnt make any sense.

So I would like to ask you guys what do you think I should do. I have 4 options basically.
1
Wait and wish for a miracle since my knee feels stable in general their is a sligh postive pivot shift but its even more stable than my right leg. THe only issue is with the pain which i find really hard to cope with. Furthermore I dont know how youre knees feel after ACL recon but i cant push out my lower leg (tibia forward) as if i had an anterior drawer effect.
2 Im studying abroad currently in the US so i have a chance to get an appointment with one of the doctors working in NY to get a second opinion (HSS dr Thomas Wickiewicz). I dont know what are the costs of an ACL recon in the states (i mean a revsion). I dont know if i could afford one though .
3
- one of the doctors that i have met suggests firstly to try bone grafting. He would use my hip for the harvest site and take some bone from the illiac crest and clean up as much as he can do in the patellar tendon and in the joint.
- then after a year or 6 months he would rereconstruct the knee with whatever graft id prefer however he suggests using a contralateral PT graft or a double bundle hamstring graft or eventually a quad graft.
4 The fourth and final option would be to go allo all the way
one of the doctors suggests like the previous one to due the bone grafting with a bone allograft and then rereconstruc with either a PTBTB allograft or a hammy double bundle graft .

So this is my story im really depressed right now that i have gotten screwed with my health so much and i just dont know what to do (sry for my spelling or grammar btw). I read everyday countless articles which all point out that the graft that I had was just excellent due to the BTB. I really havent felt any instability i ran a bit without any problem can do lay ups but as soon as i start to do stuff my leg starts to swell and i succumb to inflammation. Furthermore all of the articles i read are moreless vague when it comes to the allografts and other grafts. The failure rate of the allograft is 30% from what i remember for people who are under 40.

I just wnated to add that i dont know how an allograft works practically (I havent seen any testimonies so far). Im interested now not to be crippled again and do sports for about 5-10 years thats all.
Im 191 cm tall 90 KG and used to do a lot of weightlifing to preserve my 35inch vertical leap. So i would do anything to get my jumping ability back.

I would really appreciate ANY HELP im really desperate since my scholarship will soon be going down the drain

If you search around in here you'll find a lot of info on allografts (I've had one and several other people have too) and contralateral grafts, which sounds like it might make sense since your patellar tendon doesn't sound good on the affected knee. Though - how do they know you won't run into the same problem on your other knee if they harvest a graft from your other patellar tendon? What caused the bone lump and issue there? I wouldn't rule it out - I'd just want an explanation of why they think the same issues won't pop up in your other knee.

Few things.... Yes, your situation sucks but suicide? Come on.... that's pathetic. We all get down when we are injured, do be so selfish.

Talk to a few docs, get a few opinions. What country are you from? I'm really not sure how operations here would work with foreign insurance or what would happen at all... Might be best to find some referrals for docs in your home country and go back to have the surgery done.

I'm almost always against the lawsuit happy mentality, but if he did seriously screw up your knee, this is a good situation for one. If not for extra money, at least to cover previous costs and the cost to get you back to normal, surgery NOT to be done by him.

I hat a PT graft in my left knee, the harvest site was always tender and swelled a bit, but nothing like yours. Infection maybe? I'm having a allograft done next wednesday, so I can't attest to that, but from what I've heard, they are just as solid as anything else and reduce recovery time.

Bottom line - Chin up. You are still alive, you have your mind. Be more social and don't dwell on all the bad. Talk to a few docs and get multiple opinions. Figure out your insurance situation. Have the surgery. Yes it may cost a ton, but your health is worth it. Rehab the fuck out of it and get back to life!

The problem is that the doctors are only interested in doing the acl again and are afraid of opening the anterior knee again. They assume that my PT has become one huge scar which can snap any minute and that they wont do shit about it . Maybe it was a bit of an overstatement but imagine yourself walkign with a limp for 8 months only to undergo another surgery and at 14 months just walk normally while 60 year olds with ACLr run pass you .

cowboy up cupcake. cut knees sting a little, your doc might or might not have f'ed up. but in the end you asked him or her to cut, and hopefully you had some idea of what the chances were of a bad outcome. I had aclr counter lat 3 weeks post op i broke my graft patella 3 weeks after that i was back at work commercial fishing less than 2 months post op. great outcome!. what I'm saying is look at what you have not at what did not work out tack responsibility and move on. your lucky a really bad outcome you never wake up, or end up a quad needing 24/7 care.
1 find a doc you trust
2 find out what is wrong. you don't know -- if you were drilled up and through in one pass, than 1cm off i assum on the fib. is great
3 do your home work ( options )

than you can ask for input with out sounding like a head case.

Believe me i did my homework and i can tell you that the success rate of the operation is measured to be 94%. Revison is only gauged at 80% succes rate ergo im being sarcastic that if they screwed it up then i dont want to know what will happen with the whole 80% chance. Besides a 24/7 quad that needs attention, i dont have that. All i have is an infection inside my knee that no one is willing to operate in my country and i cant afford an operation in the states. I need to OD usually on my painkillers so that i can kneel down without the excruciating pain. I do not want to whine but live with an infection or whatever tumor like thing in your knee that causes that much pain for 14 months. Your story had a happy end thats all

I am looking at ACL revision also after a tearing the ACl / PCL a month ago. Here is what I think (and i am talking to myself as well).
1. Find a doctor you trust. Ask your friends who repaired their knees and how satisfied they are. Maybe ask on facebook, etc.
2. Don't tell the new doc how the other screwed up. Just tell them your symptoms and goals. You can save that for an attorney if you like.
3. Keep the muscles happy, with myofascial release.
4. Stay calm; it will help you heal and help you think better. This is important because you have big decisions to make.

I know I am disappointed to have so much taken from me. It's hard to go under the knife again knowing the results are not as good as the first time. It must be really difficult for you when it didn't work out the first time.

Revision of a completedly f#$Ked up ACL is a piece of cake. The tunnels are ain the wrong place, so they don't need to be bone grafted. The competetent revision doc just puts the tunnels in the right place which is always miles away from where they had been put initially.

The sucess rate of revsion surgery is typically somewhat lower that primary surgery becuase over the years the patiens have lost their menisci and articular cartlage.

Assuming not much has happend beyond the screwed up primary case, the thig guy has a good prognosis.

Sorry to hear about your knee. What a bummer. I can tell you that patellar tendon grafts are very painful. I had it on my first ACl recon on my right knee. It's not surprising you have pain there.

I can also tell you that allografts are about 1/100th of the pain, as I had 3 months ago on my left knee. I asked my doc about allograft success rates compared to autografts and she said she's never had one fail on her yet, and she does probably 20-30 ACL recons a week. She said the failure rate is more related to where the graft is placed. If it's not at the right angle to the bones it will be more likely to snap.

Anyway, good luck to you.