What steadies a knee that has felt unstable since a football injury?
Dr. Mahajan is Chairman Orthopaedics, Joint Replacement & Chief Robotic Joint Replacement at Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.
A man in his forties, whose right knee had troubled him for years after an injury on the field, came to Dr Ramneek Mahajan.
What had the injury taken from the patient's daily life?
The patient says he played football for seven years and fell on his right knee while playing; he was in pain and decided to see a doctor.
Dr Mahajan describes the knee. The injury, some years earlier, had in time taken the patient off football. The right knee was unstable and hurt after long periods of work, and the patient did not trust it on the stairs or when walking.
Which operation was planned?
Dr Mahajan says the plan was an arthroscopic ACL reconstruction: rebuilding the ACL, a ligament inside the knee that keeps it stable, through keyhole surgery, which uses small cuts, a camera and fine instruments.
What happens after the operation?
Dr Mahajan describes the recovery. The patient was up and moving after the operation and on rehabilitation, a programme of exercises that rebuilds strength and movement; for this operation it starts on the day of surgery. Follow-up continues online, so a patient who lives far away stays in touch for the whole course of rehabilitation.
How is the patient now?
The patient says he can play football again.
What should a patient with an unstable knee after a sports injury ask?
This is one man's story, not a promise: what an operation can do for you depends on your own case.
Ask whether the ligament that keeps the knee stable is torn, and whether it can be rebuilt through keyhole surgery.
If you live far from the hospital, ask how your rehabilitation will be followed up after you go home.
What this case teaches
The ACL stops the shinbone sliding forward of the thighbone and keeps the knee steady when it turns, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons explains.
ACL injuries most often happen when pivoting, cutting or jumping, common in football, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says.
Surgery for an ACL injury depends on factors such as severity, age, joint wear, instability and activity, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says.
