Broken knee bone .........

[Paul223]

Not me thank god ! My sister in law slipped in the bathroom early Monday morning and landed hard on her knee, ambulance attended and rushed her to A&E, X-rays have confirmed a break in the knee cap bone (in half) and severed tendons, very nasty and requires an operation to wire it all together and then 4 to 6 months of convelesing (IF it goes right).

Now whilst the hospital and ambulance staff have been brill theres seems to be a problem, the operation has already been cancelled twice three times and is now booked for tomorrow Sat, but her leg is now swelling and if that happens then possibly no op tomorrow ......... shes on morphine for the pain

 

So my questions to the PW massive......

 

.....it this sort of waiting time normal?

 

.....will waiting longer have an adverse effect on the healing rate post op?

 

.....will the wait have any long term effects?

Edited May 2, 2013 by Paul223

[RED BEARD]

jesus that sounds nasty.i'd say a cancellation or two probably is normal (also unlucky),the more the knee swelsl the harder it will be to heal,i doubt it would effect it long term unless the swelling gets in the way during the op.

 

 

also i am in no way medicaly trained,this is just my opinion................and get well soon paul223's sister in-law

[Boromir]

I also suspect fluid behind the knee cap expect to have a big needle and tube stuck in the knee to drain and relieve it. My knee swelled to the size of a football when I done it in spent 6 weeks in a splint then I was supposed to see a physiotherapist but never did, instead I decided to build up support for my knee myself by walking alot. My knee took an age to heal up and even know 6 years later its not 100%.

 

I hope she is quite young the younger the better chance of it healing but with a smashed kneecap I think this will take ages.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Boromir

[Paul223]

If she has got fluid behind it then the fluid must be half way up her leg,with the majority of the knee cap

 

she is 51............ don't tell her i said that

 

thanks for the best wishes

[jay222]

Sounds extremely painful, my sympathies

[clakk]

my left kneecap has a line across after some kind drunk took me out on my bike took two weeks for the swelling to go down b4 hospital did the do and then 12 weeks in plaster and a month of physio .your sis has my deepest sympathy cos 20 years on when it wants to pee me off the kneecap locks and i speak french or some foreign language .the fluid build up is stopping any chance of it being operated on but these days their far more advanced with the repairs they can do atb clakk

[Beretta06]

From my Little Bro - A & E Registrar. There is two types of swelling, one by fluid retention (which the medical team will remove with a big needle!!) and one by bruising, causing muscles to swell. The fluid is not an operation stopper as it can be easily removed. However, muscular swelling IS an operation stopper. Any repairs done on a swollen muscle will become 'loose' after the swelling goes down, so they would wait for the swelling to reduce. A bit like breaking your leg. If you plaster a swollen leg, once the swelling goes down the plaster is loose! That's why the first plaster casts are only 'back splits', to allow the swelling to subside.

 

As far as seriousness, if the tendons are completely severed, she will be in for a very long recovery period. And, depending on the damage to the tendons, they may end up slightly shorter when joined, giving the possibility of a permanent limp. Tendons are strange things, like a rope protected by a guttering downpipe. The outer layer protects the tendon and allows it to move freely. If the sheath and tendon are damaged, the swelling needs to go down before the repair, otherwise the tendon sticks in the sheath, which can make the repair come apart when the knee is bent.

 

So, in summary, fairly common operation, complex surgery but high success rate, swelling may prove a stalling point, operation comes with a long recovery time.

 

Hope this helps and SiL is on the mend very soon.

[Boromir]

From my Little Bro - A & E Registrar. There is two types of swelling, one by fluid retention (which the medical team will remove with a big needle!!) and one by bruising, causing muscles to swell. The fluid is not an operation stopper as it can be easily removed. However, muscular swelling IS an operation stopper. Any repairs done on a swollen muscle will become 'loose' after the swelling goes down, so they would wait for the swelling to reduce. A bit like breaking your leg. If you plaster a swollen leg, once the swelling goes down the plaster is loose! That's why the first plaster casts are only 'back splits', to allow the swelling to subside.

 

 

Thats the one I had they placed it right behind my Knee cap biggest needle ive ever seen in my life, then some how they put a tube in there and then the blood started to pour out into a cup. But it did make the pain go away a bit but I hope I dont have to go through that again.

[Paul223]

still no op, possibly saturday, which is good in a way as now she can have some food!

[Oli]

dislocated mine a couple of times, first time in a cast for 6weeks +, the hardest bit is building it back up again once it comes out, It will look like a chicken leg. Then knock on injuries/back problems due to muscle imbalances, invest the time in the physio exercises once it gets to that point. Once able to move yoga is a great tool for reverting the body back to type

[pegleg31]

Shattered my tibia platue (spelling?) into 15 pieces 7/8 yrs ago, It took two weeks for my operation. I had a frame with pins going through my leg on for 3 months, hurt like hell. Need a new knee now but can't have one because of my age, they've told me they'll fuse it if it gives me serious problems ( **** that). Hurts everyday like what I can only describe as tooth ache, some days it mild and some I can't put my weight on it.

[Dr_evil]

I severed my tendon a while back and as above the gym work is important!

 

I'm 1/2cm or 1cm difference in diameter IIRC thanks to muscle wastage :( need to build more muscle up which I will do when I get back into the gym properly but for now welding/revision is taking priority as the strength is still great enough

[browning123]

Very sorry to hear that - best wishes to your sister in law Paul.

[four-wheel-drive]

When I broke my ankle six years ago it swelled up so they could not put a proper plaster on it it had to be one that could expand and retract in all it was about five weeks before the swelling went down and I could have a proper cast fitted then another six weeks to get the bloody thing off swelling is a funny thing one person it will be up and down in days other people its weeks or months I hope that she gets it sorted soon as is up and about.

[magman]

Send her my best wishes please

[Paul223]

Thanks for the advice and well wishes, will pass them on tonight

[Paul223]

Well shes has had the op today, just waiting to hear it all went according to plan