OT - Meniscus Surgery

[buddybikes]

Appears I am heading for medial meniscus. Don't have actual results of the MRI yet, but based on last one about 1/2 of it is toast I believe. Just wondering in real life, others who have had arthroscopic knee surgery, how fast back to riding again. 1. Just easy flats 2. Somewhat normal workouts. Trying to decide to get surgery now in mid bike season and be ready for hiking or wait till yucky November, but not be able to hike for good amount of time.

Have had regular ortho/synvisc shots that have helped general arthritis and do PT till now.

thank you,

[echelon_john]

Tore my miniscus Oct 30, 2011; bucket handle tear. Got scoped ten days later on Nov 9th; walking gently immediately; walking pretty normally within 10 days, still being careful. 80% normal activity within 4 weeks; skiing (conservatively) 5-6 wks, all 100% normal by Jan 15th or so. My takeaway is that getting the surgery quickly after the injury really helped, since I didn't lose too much strength or flexibility hobbling around before the operation.

Rehab was really no big deal; just normal stretching and body weight strengthening. All good now; I'm just careful with pivoting. Biking and skiing, which are what matter most to me, are 100% pain free.

Best of luck--I found the anxiety (I had never had anesthesia before) was unfounded and the recovery surprisingly fast. Hope you feel the same!

[Hardlyrob]

Similar experience to Echelon John - torn medial meniscus skiing in 2002 - waited until 2004 for surgery, just to make sure the arthritis was a problem:). Walking same day, normal activities in about 7 days, riding flats easy in about 14 days. Got better from there. Good luck and keep us posted.
Cheers!

Rob

[Ken Robb]

You may find more comments on this subject in the archives. The first time I tore my meniscus I didn't recognize the symptoms and kept playing tennis and icing my knee afterward to reduce pain/swelling. After many weeks of that I got the diagnosis and surgery. The doc explained that I had some roughening of the surfaces usually protected by the meniscus because I delayed getting the torn parts removed. He also discovered that my patella (I think) was floating around a bit and needed to be reattached. That had to have been the result of an auto wreck years before when my seat belt stretched enough to let my knees punch out the bottom of my dashboard.

He said spinning easy gears was a good exercise during rehab. NO BIG GEARS!
I don't remember how many weeks before I was up and around but it took a while.

My first time back on the tennis court was 6 months later. As I served the first point of the fourth set of doubles I planted my feet at the service line and popped the meniscus in my other knee. Since I was now an expert on the symptoms and I was playing with my surgeon at the time I schedule surgery for two days later. This paid dividends in the ease and speed of recovery.

I would say my first knee is 90-95% of what it would have been had I never hurt it. I almost never even have a twinge/reminder. The second knee is 100% with no symptoms whatsoever.

Take your doc's advice on what activities to do when post-op. There will be plenty of people offering anecdotes (BS?) about mythical humans who ran a marathon two days post-op because it was "only arthroscopic surgery" but DO NOT accept what they say as anything but a fairy tale. Rushing your recovery can cause damage. Taking it slow and easy until you are sure you can go hard may delay getting back to full strength by a few weeks but I think that is a great trade-off for the long term health of your knee.

[buddybikes]

My issue is arthritis and normal degeneration. Have had this problem for years.

[EDS]

My issue is arthritis and normal degeneration. Have had this problem for years.

I have an arthritic knee (mine is from Rheumatoid arthritis though) and had a combo synovectemy and meniscus repair. Took me over two months before I was able to ride again.

[climbgdh]

i'm just in the middle of rehab after ACL reconstruction plus meniscus repair from lateral tear. i had the surgery almost 7 weeks ago. Of course with ACL reconstruction my rehab is a bit more involved than just with meniscus repair. after my surgery i had a few minor issues in the first week that prevented me from walking without crutches but was still walking (carefully) without crutches after about 10-12 days. within 10-12 days i was on stationary bike although initially not able to do full revolution. full revs came after about 17 days. i'm now doing 2x - 30 minutes per day with some resistance on the trainer. my physio-therapist is recommending that i not get out on the road until roughly 10 weeks after surgery. with just meniscus repair you should be able to do much quicker. word of advice....... follow you physio's recommendations to a T. they've worked wonders for me and my mobility. good luck.

[GregL]

Bucket handle tear in right lateral meniscus. Surgery included removal of torn portion of meniscus (approximately 1/3 of it) and general clean up of the joint. I was spinning very easily on a trainer six days post-surgery. I gradually bumped up the trainer riding over two weeks while working the knee with a physical therapist. By two weeks post-surgery, I was riding outside. At three weeks, I was starting moderate efforts. By four weeks, interval training and climbing. By six weeks, I completed a century. I was back to racing two months post-surgery. Full range of motion and no post-activity soreness took around six months. Good luck!

Greg

[bart998]

I had a bucket handle tear of my left medial meniscus. I had arthroscopic surgery in December and expected to be able to ride in 6-8 weeks. However, when they got into my knee they found a tear in the synovial membrane and removed part of that as well. The result was much more swelling and therapy needed than I planned before I could ride. As of now, I can ride. My knee still feels weak especially if I stand on the pedals. But, it continues to improve.

[Dave]

I've had 3 surgeries for torn meniscus. If something's loose, they trim it off and there's little to recover from, other than the minor incisions. I've twice had a surgery on a Friday and rode 40 miles the next Friday.

The first surgery I had caused more swelling than the two mentioned above and it took two weeks before I could complete an average ride, but I was on a trainer after a week. I had that surgery on a Friday too, and waited until Tuesday to hobble in to work at my desk job.

Unfortunately, when most of the meniscus is gone, due to arthritis, it's time for at least a partial knee replacement. That's where I am now. I quit riding in November of '10, mostly because I had a house to build. No time to ride and build a house with a shot knee.

[buddybikes]

thx.

I looked at my MRI film myself and still see cartilage there, so hopefully just at step 1 meniscus cleaning. I am careful not to overstress my knees outside of riding (just hiking w/o a pack and mostly winter) and certainly not overweight...

[OtayBW]

Some years ago, I had outpatient surgery for an inguinal hernia in the morning and cracked the wife that night!!!:banana: :banana: :banana:
You can do it!

[tmf]

I'm on the other side of the spectrum for meniscus surgery. My surgery went fine, but I had serious complications in the recovery that still affect me 8 years later.

I had a tear in my right meniscus. The plan was to go in and repair it. When he got in there, it was more damaged than the MRI suggested so he decided to remove it. After the surgery, and the next morning I felt fine. I was able to walk around a little and didn't have any significant pain. As the day went on, my knee started swelling and kept swelling. That's with me laying down with my leg elevated and my knee thoroughly iced (with that ice bucket contraption). By that evening (the day after surgery), I was in extreme pain and my knee was very swollen. My leg was so stiff I couldn't move it or bend my knee at all, and I was getting severe cramping in my leg. An evening trip to the doctor's office resulted in him draining the blood out of my knee (I didn't realize the swelling was from my knee filling up with blood). As soon as it was drained, my knee felt great! I could bend it, no more cramping, no more pain, and no swelling. I thought the crisis was over.

The next day the swelling started again. I called my surgeon, but a different doctor was on call. He wanted to wait and advised me to keep the leg elevated and keep ice on it. After a few hours, the swelling continued and the pain became unbearable - the worst pain I've ever experienced. He said he would meet me at the emergency room. By the time I got there, and the doctor attempted to drain the blood - all of the blood had congealed and could not be drained (using a long needle digging around in my knee). I was given a high dosage of Percocet for the pain and sent home. I couldn't bend my knee at all, and the pain was still very high. It took 3-4 months of physical therapy 3 times per week before I could bend my knee enough to do once rotation on the stationary bike. Over the years it's gotten better, but there are still times it gets very stiff and seems to be worse in the winter. It feels fine when I'm riding, and the more I ride the better it feels.

The primary reason I believe I had this result from the surgery is that I have a condition called Von Willebrand disease. It is a blood clotting disorder that had previously only affected me with lots of nose bleeds as a kid, and significant bleeding when they tried to take my tonsils out (they stopped the surgery).

It seems like everyone else I know and have heard of has experienced super smooth meniscus surgery and recovery. I think I'm that 1/2% that didn't. My surgery actually went just fine - it was the internal bleeding in my knee after that caused all my problems.

[buddybikes]

Got back from the Ortho, said no surgery warranted, meniscus that was all scruffed up 2 years ago has rubbed itself down. However pain in both knees could now be attributed to rheumatoid arthritis‎, yuck. Sending me over to a specialist, no idea what's next.

[93legendti]

I had a locked knee. During the surgery my dr. found a small meniscus tear, a bone chip in the joint and a partially torn acl. This was in 1990. I was roller blading within 10 days or so and riding soon thereafter, when the weather warmed up.

As a side note, I was awake during the surgery and watched it on a large monitor. I'm pretty queasy, but the Veriset must have worked well, because my dr. told me to look at the screen and said: "I just cut your meniscus". Normally, you couldn't have paid me to look.:eek:

[Ken Robb]

As a side note, I was awake during the surgery and watched it on a large monitor. I'm pretty queasy, but the Veritas must have worked well, because my dr. told me to look at the screen and said: "I just cut your meniscus". Normally, you couldn't have paid me to look.:eek:

And while you were watching did you realize that the darker streaks in the fluid around the site was your blood? That didn't bother me either. Good drugs! Veritas? I don't think I had that one.

[93legendti]

And while you were watching did you realize that the darker streaks in the fluid around the site was your blood? That didn't bother me either. Good drugs! Veritas? I don't think I had that one.

No, it was a bit dream like.
He could have told me to cluck like a chicken and I would have...I think I answered "that's nice". I believe an anesthesiologist later told me it was Veritas, but I could be wrong on that.

The weird thing is, I can still recall the slight burning when he cut the meniscus.

Sorry, it was Versed, not Veritas.

[Louis]

Years ago when they were 'scoping my left knee (turned out to be plica, but the MRI had suggested worse, so I lucked out) I had decided on an epidural instead of going under. At one point I felt very faint, as if I was drifting off into space. I overheard something about "push atropine" then I came back. I've often wondered how close they were to losing me. (Any anesthesiologists care to comment on how often that happens and how serious it is?)

[MattTuck]

Good drugs! Veritas? I don't think I had that one.

I think he mean versed.

Versed is a benzodiazepine, a drug that causes relaxation, sleepiness and can cause a partial or complete loss of memory during the use of the drug.
Why Is Versed Used

Versed is typically used for sedation during procedures that do not require general anesthesia, but do require the patient to remain calm and relaxed, such as a colonoscopy. Versed may also be used after surgery for sedation, or to help keep the patient calm while on the ventilator. Versed may also be used in combination with pain medications or other types of sedation.

Drugs have funny effects on people. In the times I've had surgery, they typically push the Versed right as they're about to wheel you into the operating room. it makes me VERY happy and I start asking a lot of questions. then... I don't remember anything. When I come out of the anesthesia, I typically want to hug everyone and sing songs... I guess the nurses think I'm quite hilarious. Some people have much worse reactions.

[Hawker]

The last time I had Versed I told all the nurses around me how pretty they were, several times. Only problem was...my wife was standing right next to me.