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Anyone had a patellar tendon acl graft?

Moongidget

Angel Diva
Hello Divas! I have been gone from this forum for a long time, but have a burning question and I thought this might be a great place to get the information I am seeking. 12 years ago, I tore my ACL in a skiing accident and had hamstring tendon reconstruction. Rehab was hard, but I had no complications and within a season or two I was skiing just fine. Fast forward to 2020, and my reconstructed ACL is partially torn and I have elected to have surgery. (I tried being a coper: strengthening, activities with a brace, but life has a way of telling you that is not the correct path for you).

So now for the burning question - my surgeon is recommending a revision using my quadriceps tendon. I think I'm better suited for a patellar tendon graft. The surgeon's main concern with a PT graft is pain when kneeling after the surgery, and I practice Pilates 3x per week. Has anyone had a PT graft and if so, was there post surgery pain when kneeling? How bad was it and did it go away after a period of time.

Second question - are there ortho patient chat boards that anyone knows about better suited for such a question? I tried searching for something like that but didn't find anything where the chat section was very active.

Thanks much! Hope you are all well.
 

Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
I have an ACL reconstruction with patellar tendon back in the mid 90s. Yes, there was pain kneeling if you don’t use a cushion. Somewhere along the years, however, the pain went away. Although it still feels weird kneeling on it, it doesn’t hurt anymore.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Second question - are there ortho patient chat boards that anyone knows about better suited for such a question? I tried searching for something like that but didn't find anything where the chat section was very active.
Did you find Knee Guru? I haven't looked at it for a while but did find useful info back in 2012.

https://www.kneeguru.co.uk

If you can handle ignoring the banter, TGR usually has an active ACL injury thread every season. Look for Gimp Central under Connections in the list of Forum sections. I never joined, but did learn some useful info just reading a few threads.

Best of luck with the surgery!
 

Moongidget

Angel Diva
Thanks all. I mainly wanted to know if modifications (pillow, pad) would ease the pain or if it was an excruciating, even when kneeling on something soft, kind of pain. This helps.
 

lisamamot

Angel Diva
Thanks all. I mainly wanted to know if modifications (pillow, pad) would ease the pain or if it was an excruciating, even when kneeling on something soft, kind of pain. This helps.
My daughter played soccer in high school and college and is currently recovering from ACL tear #3 (right, left, right) in three consecutive years and is very sadly no longer playing soccer; she keeps getting her knee run through :frown: At only 20 years old that is just too much.

Her first two reconstructions were using patellar tendon and surgery performed at Mass General. She worked very hard and rocked recovery. She has the most amazing PT at MGH too and they got her stronger than before surgery both times. Her third reconstruction, also done at Mass General, had to be hamstring since she was out of patellar tendons; they also shored-up her ALL to increase knee stability. She had a serious meniscal root tear with the last tear as well. Recovery is very gradual this time in comparison to the previous two - this is due to the meniscus repair.

With patellar tendon reconstruction kneeling is an issue for awhile. I asked her and she did not describe it as pain, but as a numbness combined with a prickly feeling. It took about a year and a half for the kneeling prickly feeling to subside and to get to just numb. She has a pretty high tolerance for pain though - I expect many may describe it an painful for the first year and a half or so.
 

Moongidget

Angel Diva
My daughter played soccer in high school and college and is currently recovering from ACL tear #3 (right, left, right) in three consecutive years and is very sadly no longer playing soccer; she keeps getting her knee run through :frown: At only 20 years old that is just too much.

Her first two reconstructions were using patellar tendon and surgery performed at Mass General. She worked very hard and rocked recovery. She has the most amazing PT at MGH too and they got her stronger than before surgery both times. Her third reconstruction, also done at Mass General, had to be hamstring since she was out of patellar tendons; they also shored-up her ALL to increase knee stability. She had a serious meniscal root tear with the last tear as well. Recovery is very gradual this time in comparison to the previous two - this is due to the meniscus repair.

With patellar tendon reconstruction kneeling is an issue for awhile. I asked her and she did not describe it as pain, but as a numbness combined with a prickly feeling. It took about a year and a half for the kneeling prickly feeling to subside and to get to just numb. She has a pretty high tolerance for pain though - I expect many may describe it an painful for the first year and a half or so.


Thanks. This helps a lot.
 

Skier31

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I had a patellar tendon graft in 2001.

I do quite a bit of pilates and have no problem kneeling. It was tender for awhile but it I have no problems.

Feel free to pm if you have more questions.
 

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