meniscus surgery - what to expect

I had 2 separate meniscus (medial) surgeries last year, one left and one right.  Both times the operation itself was straight forward and the recovery was pretty fast.  They gave me crutches to leave, but for the 2nd operation i didn't even use them.  My last surgery was June 9th 2010.  3 weeks later i was hiking at Yosemite and i started jogging not long after that.  Stitches from the 2 keyhole cuts were out in a week-10 days.

Since the surgery i have been running better than ever and am so happy that i got it taken care of. 

thanks for this - can you remember how long you were 'under' for in the OR? I think its the actual OP that frieks me out more than the recovery as i hope it to be fast although as i have had this for a couple of years i am not so sure it will be, although scans when it first started to bother me and more recently dont indicate anything else has deteriorated.

thanks

Opt for the spinal anesthetic, if you can. I find that takes a huge chunk out of the "recovery" issues (i.e. no barfing). Then you can watch, too. :-)

I used to have generals, but once I switched to spinals, my recoveries have all been much smoother.

Had mine just about a year ago. I actually had a blast during the surgery. I stayed awake and my Doctor had to yell at me at one point because I had her laughing too much.

In at 10am out at 5 or so....

Did the Gran Fondo NY 6 months later...

Running has been hard for me but that's mostly mental....

Eric J

i have not been given the option of a spinal and i am not certain that i'd want to be awake with them fishing around in my knee like that, although i only had a local when they were sewing a tendon back together in my hand and that was an interesting experience.

I assume it will only take 20 minutes or so so i hope the recovery from being under wont be too bad.

I have been told a week no driving, is that because of the need to do an emergency stop or something? Will i be walking or on crutches and finally, should i expect much swelling as thats something thats never been an issue so far?

thanks

thanks for the reply - i am going to ask my ortho a couple of specifics but thanks for the general heads up good to know its not so bad!

I am 100% serious about asking your anesthesiologist about the spinal, though...I was really hesitant about it the first time, but once I did it, I'd never go back to general. You don't HAVE to watch...I just preferred to (and even then, they have you draped, you watch via a monitor--like watching TV set to the surgery channel). Actually, you don't even have to be awake. You can also elect to have a spinal with a sedative, so you'd be asleep, more or less, if you're worried about it. For me, general just introduces a whole slew of other crappy-feeling-inducing side effects that I prefer to avoid, esp. for such a short procedure.

Anyway...as far as recovery: Even if it's just a clip, it really depends on what they do, as well as on you...sometimes you're up and walking out of the hospital, other ties you might need to crutch for a bit. As for no driving, I can see how if it's on your right leg (and you have an automatic transmission) you might not have the ROM/sensation to drive.

The swelling is usually the worst part, at least in my experience it has been. Start doing your ROM stuff ASAP, and ice ice ice.

The shot before the general put me at ease, very at ease...

The spinsll literally paralyzes you from the waist down. Kind of weird but not a big deal. You feel absolutely nothing... NOTHING.

You don't see anything but what the Arthroscope camera ses inside your knee as you have a tent blocking your legs.

I was on crutches for a week and had to ice constantly using an ice machine that transfers just the cold air through a tube to the wrap around your knee.

It helped that my Surgeon is amazing...

Eric J

OK i made it though! The general was not a big deal at all in the end one minute i was chatting to someone, this was clearly a distraction technique, the next minute i woke up and within a few few minutes felt fine.

So far knee feels OK and i am not taking any pain meds, it makes strange squelching noises which i presume is the fluid they put in, its stiff and sore but not painful as such. Apparently the tear was quite frayed so he trimmed it back rather than attempting a repair as he said the fraying would just tear again. Not sure how much he took out but did not sound like a huge amount.

I have noticed that the front of the knee slightly below the knee cap feels numb, is this something they put locally in the knee during the OP to help with pain? I had not noticed this before i had got home so could not ask the ortho.

So right now i am a bit stiff and sore in the knee and its a bit swollen and squelches. Does all that sound pretty normal?

thanks

yeah i am already starting to get more 'used' to the loss of feeling, either that or its come back a bit in 24hrs already. Anyone got any ideas on the fluid in the knee? This seems to be causing me some resistence in the joint as if i try to flex it too much i feel pressure build up, then hear the fluid move, and then the knee moves a bit more. I think this is fluid they put in during/after surgery but i wonder how long it takes to drain away.

question to the veterans of this procedure - when you say it fixes the issue would it be 'normal' to still have jointline pain at 4 days post OP? The swelling is coming down and ROM is getting easier and i have lots of knee acheyness at the front and side due to where the scope went in i think but should i expect that the joint lin pain would be gone immediately or is it a fades over time thing?

thanks

Yes.

Simple procedure or no, it's still a substantial amount of trauma to your body. Pain is normal.

ETA: also, if you have any bone bruising or similar, that isn't going to be fixed--and it will need time to heal as well.

good to hear thanks, i think the problem is that its somewhat made out, at least it was to me, that you'll be good to go right off the bat and it was slightly concerning that even though the swelling was coming down nicely and things were starting to move more freely, i still could feel the jointline pain.

i'll keep up with the icing and gentle ROM and PT before i see the 'real' PT on Wednesday for something more specific than quad work.

thanks

I have not had menicus surgery but Ihave doen thousands of them (sports trained orthoedist)  I have out liers on either side.  I can do teh same suregry on 2 people on the same day and one goes otu and play 36 hoels of golf the day afer surgery and the other in incapacitated for 6 weeks. 

My middle of the road meniscectomy pt will 1-use crutches 2-3 days 2- see me 7-10 days psot op and be a little gimpy but OK and I will start them in therapy 3- at 3 weeks wil still be having a litle pain but are on the mend 4- at 6-8 week be back at full tilt