banged knee after reconstruction have i damaged it

[chelsea86]

Hi I am really frustrated and recently got enraged about my newly operated knee, i had an hamstring autograft acl, allograft, lcl, and postero lateral corner reconstruction, i was in a rage and was sitting both knees bent at 90 degrees and just banged both of my hands down hard on each of my femurs near but not directly on the knee more on the upper leg.

I had my operation on the 12th of june 2008 so it 9 or 10 weeks ago , but was was just wandering could the impact of my hands effect the screws placed in my operated leg or effect the grafts in any way im really scared i have done something, do any of you knee experts know if it could have effected anything or is it impossible to effect the knee by just hitting the leg while it is planted on the ground.

any information would be fantastic thanks.

[msk101]

No, your knee should be fine aside from a superficial bruise if you hit yourself that hard! and assuming your surgeon has you scheduled for a fairly traditional rehab program, you should be doing a graded rehab program guided by a sports physio and they will be able to let you know the do's and dont's with the knee. basically at this stage you shouldn't be doing any impact work and a few other things (no running, jumping, hopping, twisting or fully squatting) and definitely no inner-range quads (also known as quads-over-fulcrum) ie. don't be fully straightening the knee unless your foot is anchored. if you're still worried about it, see your physio.

[chelsea86]

thanks for the reply, you obviously know what you are talking about. So I was just wandering what my operation entails for the long term, how long do you think it will take for me to get back to competitive sports again im just itching to get back.

heres my operation details:
acl reconstruction, lateral collateral reconstruction, posterolateral corner reconstruction on the 12th june 2008, im 2 months + post op at the moment.

[msk101]

HI Chelsea86,

I've given a couple of replies to knee reconstructions lately. Check out the patient questions section of the forum - acl rupture question, there's some information in there that might help you. Generally expect to be returning to light impact work after about 6 months post-op and sport specific exercises about 9-12 months. Depends on what sport, how you're going with the rehab and your physio's program of rehab exercises, how fit you were pre-op, how long you had to wait between injury and operation etc etc... many many variables there.

There's a lovely little frustrating period in ACL reconstruction rehab which is where the new ligament is still remodelling into it's final home but while this process is happening it's at it's most vulnerable for re-rupture, but at the same time your muscles are coming back online nicely... so this means you feel like you can start running and impact work and returning to sport.but you really shouldn't!!! this window of frustration is around 3-6 months so be careful in the upcoming months to do your rehab exercises completely but try not to get ahead of yourself. This is a good time to join a gym and do all your upper body, cardio on bikes and elliptical trainers, and get fit without risking knee damage. then, when your physio/surgeon's protocol decides, you can start some more impact work.
Good Luck.
msk101