Hi,

I had an ACL reconstruction almost 7 years ago on my left knee, followed by the same procedure on my right knee 2 years later. Both times my ACL was ruptured and Wikipedia reference-linkmeniscus damaged although due to my age was left to repair on its own (20 and 22 years old respectively). Both reconstructions were done using a hamstring graft and there has been no need to remove the pins from my legs.

I have had a number of issues with my left knee since the initial reconstruction, and required additional arthroscopic surgery 6 months post-op to clean out osteophytes and scar tissue that were hindering my recovery. An MRI had shown a possible graft failure although upon opening my knee the surgeon determined that it was in fact intact and strong.

I returned to high level sport and have been relatively issue free for the last 5 years. Occassionally my left knee feels a little weak and I wear a knee guard as a precaution, which is what I should have done on Saturday when it felt clunky and not quite right. Unfortunately I didn't have it with me and was only going to be doing light exercise so figured it would be fine.

I slipped on some wet grass and my knee twisted quite sharply. I heard the loud crack that I am attributing to meniscus damage, however, I do not recall any popping like I did when I initially tore my ACLs. I am confident that I have not damaged any of my other ligaments as I didn't feel that really acute intense pain that comes with ligament damage, only the pain from cartilage. However, I am assuming that I am not going to actually feel any pain to do with the graft if that is ruptured. The attachment sites are not painful to touch, although I don't know if they would be anyway.

I guess what I am wondering is, is there some way to determine whether my graft has in fact been damaged. Can a physio still test for laxity? That knee has always been looser than my other since the ops so I don't know that comparing the 2 will work particularly well anyway. Or is it a pretty definite give in the joint once the ACL/graft is gone?

Is there any way for me to know? Would the graft have made a noise if it snapped? My joint feels reasonably stable but as it is only 2 days after I am keen to rest it and not test it out too much. I have definitely damaged something in there, it has swollen up similar to the initial injuries, so I would like to keep it rested to aid the recovery from whatever it is I have actually done. I am able to walk around on it and there is no additional pain to weight bear, but that is not necessarily a great indication for me. I have a pretty high pain tolerance anyway and was walking in the hospital after my 2nd reconstruction so this doesn't even really compare with that pain wise.

Unfortunately where I live it is not possible to actually see a physio in person at this point in time so I am doing things on my own for the time being. Any ideas would be great I have completed a reasonable amount of sports medicine training at university level so have a pretty good understanding of what people tell me.

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide,

Bec

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