I had knee surgery Oct 16. The swelling is extensive and ha never gone

Have you made contact with your surgical team yet?

Insist on an MUA. Manipulation under anesthesia. It won’t get better at this point.

Good that you are reaching out, as YOU HAVE TO BE YOUR IWN ADVOCATE. Have you insisted to meet with your doctor? What are they speculating as the underlying cause? This is important, as mistreatment can be worse than no treatment. This could be as a result of excessive scar tissue being laid down by your immune system. With more surgeries to remove scar tissue, you may actually end up with even more scar tissue, a condition known as Arthrofibrosis. After TKR, I had a MUA, then Arthroscopic Debridement and finally an Open Debridement. Each successive surgery gave me the opposite result with more scar tissue than I had had before. Doctors are maddeningly good at ignoring these bad outcomes. I suggest that you get a second opinion asap. Preferably from a top Orthopedic hospital such as HSS in Manhattan or the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Mn. I drove 7 hours to HSS (#1 worldwide in Ortho.) and paid over $3,000 out of pocket. I asked them if, after my initial surgery which left me with severe inflammation, limited ROM and a lot of pain, if they would have proceeded with the added surgeries that my Dr. did. The answer was “No. We may have done that 10 years ago.”

Hi al...did they take before and after photos during both your arthroscopic surgery as well as the open surgery, also showing the tissue they removed and the clean edges left as a result of the open surgery? Did you have a MARS MRI prior to surgery to verify you had abnormal tissue where it wasn't suppose to be?

5 Days a week PT is excessive, I had mine done in May, started with gentle walk 100-200 steps and built up gradually to a base of 3000 per day every day over a month, so 2nd month 4000per day and add as you feel comfortable with keeping your 3000 base line, l walk 6000+ easily now, do not carry weights at the beginning, after about a month of walking start adding weights wearing a back pack, I still got inflamed swelling and internal bruising so used Ibuprofen to control it, Walking is the best way to improve your leg strength, you can start adding other exercise's when YOU feel good to it, it can take up to and over a year to get better, so slowly slowly and it will come. Add weights exercise's (Barr Bell, Dumb Bells) when you are ready.

Has your therapist massaged your knee at any time to break up scar tissue?
My opinion is PT five times a week is excessive My surgeon wouldn't let me start PT until the week after the surgery with only mild exercises that first week. I hope you find help.

There are no pictures that I am aware of. Do you know if that is typically done?
I am not familiar with a MARS MRI but I will search to find out what it is. But no, there was no MARS MRI. Good questions. Thanks!!

Yes. Typically they take before and after pics. Especially if there is a significant finding such as abnormal tissue growth which would bolster their reasoning to do the surgery. Also it's good practice to show the patient so that they are happy with their decision to have surgery. My guess is they didn't offer to show you because perhaps there was no significant findings. Stands to reason if you did not improve. 🤷🏼 Just give them a call and ask if pics were taken.

If you can take an anti inflammatory I think it may help. It sounds most likely a build up of scar tissue. Keep plugging away at PT for breaking through the scar tissue. Like another discussion, I had an MUA (resulting in cracked femur, tremendous pain and total setback, and most recently 7 weeks ago , an open debridement. I cannot take anti inflammatory drugs (on a blood thinner). Unfortunately it’s our bodies reaction ( the small % of us after TKR). Every procedure seems to produce more - immediately. Since the revision, I’m a little farther ahead ( have a skilled therapist). Trying now to be off the opioid meds and just a regimen of Tylenol and gabapentin. I know how excruciating the pain can be during PT. It’s not “discomfort” - it is real pain. Some therapists don’t get it….and doctors either. Keep at it and be patient. Do the best you can without a lot of pressure. I was very active prior to these surgeries and procedures since April 2024. It has changed my life, but I’m just trying to accept whatever I can get in terms of ROM and live life. Hope you can move on and be hopeful.

I have been diagnosed with Patellar Clunk syndrome which has been getting progressively worse as time goes in. It's a very uncomfortable clunking with every step or kick in the pool. I'm almost 7 months and one doc says it can be fixed thru the arthroscope but my surgeon says open debridement is more effective and thorough. This of course means the entire length of my original scar will have to be reopened. Of course recovery will be no where near as difficult as TKR since only soft tissue will be cut but I am worried about scar tissue redeveloping after corrective surgery. I hate to have another big open surgery for obvious reasons but it would be nice to have a smooth stride instead of a clunky one. It's like having a pebble in your shoe that you can't do anything about. Hard to get use to. You having had this surgery is it worth it beings there's a chance overproduction of scar tissue developing again is a risk? Although Patellar Clunk is very specific and is an overproduction of synovium tissue. 🤷🏼