Glen AtwellA hypothetical guide to knee reconstructions... Part Five!
August 24th 2006 01:27
Welcome to another installment of the Sport Talk series on the dreaded knee reconstruction!
Let's recap! So far you've ruptured your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and suffered grade three tears to your medial (MCL) and lateral (LCL) ligaments. Time has passed since the initial trauma and you have been assessed by an orthopaedic surgeon and undergone an MRI scan.
Now it's time to revisit your knee surgeon and discuss the different types of grafts that can be used to reconstruct your torn ACL.
The graft can come from a number of places, let's look at the pros and cons of the following popular choices.
Patellar (patella) tendon a popular and reliable choice.
Comes from underneath the kneecap and combines tendon and bone. The bone on either side of the removed section is used to screw the tendon into the femur and tibia bones.
The patellar is a good chice for young men and athletes wanting to return to their very best. When grafted, the patellar tendon is a lot stronger than the hamstring graft in the infant stage. It might not be the choice for women though, patellar tendon donors often experience pain when kneeling down for many years after the procedure.
Hamstring graft another popular choice.
Recipeients experience less local pain over the knee joint after surgery, but have to deal with a weakened hamstring. Any bending or straining after surgery can result in an acute hamstring tear.
This graft is rather weak when it is transplanted and is much longer in length than the patellar graft, allowing the surgeon to fold it in half and double the relative strength.
Allograft a dead humans donation!
Usually a patellar tendon but can also come from the hamstring or quadracept regions. They are good because you are giving, not taking from your body. They are bad because they could be donated from a 60-year-old and for some reason, our bodies have a rare tendancy to reject them!
Which 25-year-old wants to have a 50-year-old graft? Not me!
Synthetic sounds like the perfect solution!
No harvest soreness and no disease transmission! These grafts were heralded as the best ACL graft to exist, until patients returned to their OS 15 years later with high failure rates and late infections! Steer clear!
Synthetic grafts continue to be researched and tested, but ensure you know all the facts before you decide on trying the plastic fantastic!
As with most medical advances, we can expect that in masny years to come, synthetic grafts will become the only grafts used in ACL and similar reconstructions. It just takes a long time to perfect!
So now you know what graft will be used and you're booked in for surgery! Good luck!
Next on Sport Talk, we'll discuss the procedure itself and provide videos for you to watch an actual ACL reconstruction through the eyes of a surgeon!
Let's recap! So far you've ruptured your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and suffered grade three tears to your medial (MCL) and lateral (LCL) ligaments. Time has passed since the initial trauma and you have been assessed by an orthopaedic surgeon and undergone an MRI scan.
Now it's time to revisit your knee surgeon and discuss the different types of grafts that can be used to reconstruct your torn ACL.
The graft can come from a number of places, let's look at the pros and cons of the following popular choices.
Patellar (patella) tendon a popular and reliable choice.
Comes from underneath the kneecap and combines tendon and bone. The bone on either side of the removed section is used to screw the tendon into the femur and tibia bones.
The patellar is a good chice for young men and athletes wanting to return to their very best. When grafted, the patellar tendon is a lot stronger than the hamstring graft in the infant stage. It might not be the choice for women though, patellar tendon donors often experience pain when kneeling down for many years after the procedure.
Hamstring graft another popular choice.
Recipeients experience less local pain over the knee joint after surgery, but have to deal with a weakened hamstring. Any bending or straining after surgery can result in an acute hamstring tear.
This graft is rather weak when it is transplanted and is much longer in length than the patellar graft, allowing the surgeon to fold it in half and double the relative strength.
Allograft a dead humans donation!
Usually a patellar tendon but can also come from the hamstring or quadracept regions. They are good because you are giving, not taking from your body. They are bad because they could be donated from a 60-year-old and for some reason, our bodies have a rare tendancy to reject them!
Which 25-year-old wants to have a 50-year-old graft? Not me!
Synthetic sounds like the perfect solution!
No harvest soreness and no disease transmission! These grafts were heralded as the best ACL graft to exist, until patients returned to their OS 15 years later with high failure rates and late infections! Steer clear!
Synthetic grafts continue to be researched and tested, but ensure you know all the facts before you decide on trying the plastic fantastic!
As with most medical advances, we can expect that in masny years to come, synthetic grafts will become the only grafts used in ACL and similar reconstructions. It just takes a long time to perfect!
So now you know what graft will be used and you're booked in for surgery! Good luck!
Next on Sport Talk, we'll discuss the procedure itself and provide videos for you to watch an actual ACL reconstruction through the eyes of a surgeon!
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Comment by dave
Comment by fonz
Comment by Glen Atwell
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Interesting perspective Dave, I don't think anyone is doubting that there is more serious injuries/trauma out there besides knee problems.
The point of the series wasn't to give knee reconstructions a sense of seriousness, but just highlight how common and complicated they are.
I agree with the Fonz, knee reco sufferers are not a bunch of softies! Far from it!
But it is not all about footballers either! I was hit by a car and ruptured my ACL, medial meniscus and tore my medial ligament - so it can happen off the field as well!
Comment by dave
Comment by fonz
Comment by Glen Atwell
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Sport Talk
Gamer Herald
But it's all good, I'm happy to accept being branded 'soft'. If either Dave or Fonz wants to try being smashed by a car at 50 km/h then I'll happily drive!
Imagine running into a brick wall at full speed, then times it by 10! That's the sort of impact we are talking about here.
Anyway, Dave - I'm not sure whether you have had an ACL reconstruction and broke down again (therefore frustrated) or perhaps you could explain the injury you suffered that makes you think knee reconstruction patients are soft?
Or don't, it doesn't worry me!
Freedom of speech, the reason we get out of bed every morning - or giving dickheads a voice?
Comment by Anonymous
I have had 2 and may need a third and I am only 23. I had my first at 16 and can tell you Im definatley not looking forward to the prospect of yet another, but when you are walking up stairs with your mates and you leg collapses, all because your knee is not really supported to your shin or thigh, you know another reco is the only option.
This series of what grafts etc are extememly relevant to me especially now as I have had two hamstring tendon grafts and for a third reco I dont have anymore hamstring tendon! So i have to pursue a different avenue. All my recos have been un-related and I wasn't being paid to play sport. My ligaments are able to be hyper-extended which appears to causes me to not have little injuries like a strained medial ligament, no I go and do the how lots including the acl.
So you may call people soft, but only if you've been through the pain of drilled holes through your bones to put the graft in and then the next 6-9mths of intense rehab 3-5 times a week just so you can go for run with your dog, or walk up the stairs without a problem.
Comment by Anonymous JC
Comment by Anonymous JC
thanks