knee surgery for teens

[Only me]

Has anyone had a teen go through knee surgery? My 15 year old dd has been suffering from knee pain for months. Her kneecap goes out of place and she hears and feels a "crack". She usually has immediate pain and swelling. This happens several times a day. She has been going to physical therapy for 5 months as well as taping her knee and wearing a brace. Her femur bone is turned in and her knee also doesn't align. Yesterday she had followup at the orthopedic surgeon and since she hasn't responded to therapy he is now talking possible surgery in 6 months (after her growth plates have completely closed).

 

One of the surgeries would involve cutting tendons or ligaments to adjust everything to make her knee align properly. The other would actually involve cutting the femur bone and straightening it. We're not sure yet which surgery (or both) she would need. The doctor was very honest with us and said that it would be very painful and that recovery would take 6 months. On the other hand, dd can't live with the clicking and pain and having to tape her knee or wear a brace the rest of her life. We will be getting a 2nd opinion and won't have to make a decision for several months but I was hoping someone on here had some experience with this and could give me some input.

[Murmer]

I was 20 when I had to have knee surgery based on the same problem (subluxion of my kneecap). I had a patellar tendon realignment which cut my ligaments on top and moved my patellar tendon and pinned it in. I took FOREVER to heal (at least to an active college student) but I was dancing en pointe less than a year later for nutcracker and have never had a problem since. It has been so nice to not have to worry about subluxion and the pain. Although now 8 years later I have arthritis in my knees but that could be the years of dance and gymanstics training I had or could have resulted from the surgery. Good luck!

 

ETA: I had 3 different doctors recommend the surgery before I actually did it. Get a doctor who has done it A LOT because that really helped me with recovery and even now I have orthos saying how well done my surgery was.

[fhjmom]

If she has true subluxation of the patella and has been doing rigorous physical therapy to strengthen her quads (including her home exercises as directed) and she is not showing benefit, then it does sound like surgery is the next step. One thing to think about, right now I am assuming she is young and active. As she gets older and looses more tone in those quad muscles, the situation will probably only get worse and then recovery may take longer, impact her job and/or higher education, and she still will have lived years longer enduring the pain. Subluxation is not something that usually improves over time. It is hard to make the decision to have surgery, but I know for me, when it affected my daily life to the point it sounds like it does your daughter, I was ready to get it fixed (knee problems also but not subluxations). I had my left knee done my sophmore year of college and my right knee the year after I graduated. Either was you decide to go a second opinion is a good idea.

[Only me]

So honestly, how brutal was the pain? The doctor pretty much said that the first 48 hours would be very painful. He also said that recovery would take 6 months. I know that everyone is different but what exactly does that mean. Would she not be able to do activity for 6 months. DD is in karate. She would hate to give it up for 6 months. Actually the doctor said that karate is very good for rehabilitation for I wasn't sure if he meant after the 6 months are over. Of course dd doesn't want to spend the rest of her life taped up and wearing braces. She does both for karate. I'm just wondering what kind of pain and recovery dd can expect.

 

DD is also homeschooling this year due to her severe insomnia. We were originally going to put her back into high school her freshman year but took her out after a few months due to the severe insomnia. We will keep her home her sophomore year and then play it by ear the year after that. I'm kind of thinking that if the surgery ends up being necessary that it would be better to do it next January rather then end up having to do it when she goes back to school or in college. Homeschooling is so much more flexible.

[lionfamily1999]

ETA: I had 3 different doctors recommend the surgery before I actually did it. Get a doctor who has done it A LOT because that really helped me with recovery and even now I have orthos saying how well done my surgery was.

:iagree: My sister had to have similar surgery... twice. Make sure you get a good doctor the first time.

[Murmer]

So honestly, how brutal was the pain? The doctor pretty much said that the first 48 hours would be very painful. He also said that recovery would take 6 months. I know that everyone is different but what exactly does that mean. Would she not be able to do activity for 6 months. DD is in karate. She would hate to give it up for 6 months. Actually the doctor said that karate is very good for rehabilitation for I wasn't sure if he meant after the 6 months are over. Of course dd doesn't want to spend the rest of her life taped up and wearing braces. She does both for karate. I'm just wondering what kind of pain and recovery dd can expect.

 

DD is also homeschooling this year due to her severe insomnia. We were originally going to put her back into high school her freshman year but took her out after a few months due to the severe insomnia. We will keep her home her sophomore year and then play it by ear the year after that. I'm kind of thinking that if the surgery ends up being necessary that it would be better to do it next January rather then end up having to do it when she goes back to school or in college. Homeschooling is so much more flexible.

 

I did ok...although the day after I blacked out when I had to go to the bathroom. I know I had a pain med that I took daily but I did not take the other pain meds they gave me. I will say that the rehab did take a while. The bend to straightening of my knee took over 3 months to do without pain because they moved the track of my kneecap. But I was also back in school 6 days after my surgery on crutches and with a handicap parking pass so I didn't have to hike all the way across campus for each class.