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From day one Post Op TKR I feel 3 very distinct clunks or catches.
Hello and good day!
From day one Post Op TKR I felt 3 very distinct clunks or catches while walking(swinging the calf and foot forward to walk).
The Doc. called that night after I got home from outpatient surgery earlier that day to check in on me and I told him right off about the clunking. He said well they will "make clicking sounds".. I said I realized that but this is actually clunking when bending the knee from 60 degrees to strait. He said give it time it's early.
4 weeks later PT told me once swelling goes down they could go away. Swelling is down 90% but still with every single step as I swing my calf/foot out to step, clunk, clunk, clunk, and often times a 4th.. In succession feels like grinding.. There has been zero improvement.
The PT tells me he is actively working with 5 different TKR patients and none of them have this issue. He is amazed at my range of motion,, 135 degrees and swelling is 90% gone. I am already riding stationary bike 30 minutes a day plus the PT exercises. He says most any patient he has worked with doesn't get any clunking or clicking sounds until week 5 or 6 when things reduce in swelling and things limber up. And does not recall successive clunking or grinding as mine are even then.
Anyone else experience this? They are not painful, but very annoying, loud and how can it not be wearing things out much faster than it should be. It feels like something is misaligned.
The first clunk seems to originate at the back inside of my knee and the final 2 or 3 seem to be on the front.. And again like a continual grinding with them all in succession. But really can't peg it to the patella.
Asked the Doc for fluoroscopy but said would rather see me first.. 2 weeks from now.. It just feels like something is obviously not right. Why not get on it now are my thoughts.
Upon asking 2 others that had TKR's from the same Doc, same time, have very little if any clunking or grinding feelings to date.
Appreciate any and all input..
Thank you..
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It seems a bit of a paradox as one would think that if something were misaligned that there would not be such an abatement of the swelling with such excellent ROM. Good luck in the solution. The fact that it is not painful is a good sign I would surely think (I am a layman however.)
I had the same exact thing. Believe it or not, it is called Patella Clunk. Scar tissue builds up around the surgical area and interferes with the normal knee movement. It is a simple outpatient surgery to repair, they simply trim out the scar tissue and no more clunk.
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2 ReactionsThank you for your input.. You do make sound sense about a misalignment. The PT is a bit confused as I am an outlier. Go figure.. Seems like I am one that gets the small percentage pains in the neck.. All the best! Reading ahead another respondent says it was scar tissue affecting the movement of the patella.. That would be nice. The incision does go right over the patella.. Maybe as the scar tissue breaks down it will start tracking smoothly if indeed it is the issue. .
So it felt like successive clunks? Grinding feeling with them all firing one after another? That would be nice. The incision does go right over the patella.. Maybe as the scar tissue breaks down it will start tracking smoothly if indeed it is the issue. A simple outpatient procedure to trim the scar tissue would be much nicer than a revision.. Did yours happen from day one or after time? Thanks for your reply.. A spark of hope..
Mine was a revision to my initial knee replacement. It started clunking within 2 weeks. It was unnerving to say the least. I just remember saying to my husband, "My knee is clunking. It is so weird but truly, it is clunking." Then to go to the surgeon and tell him, "It is clunking. I know it sounds weird but it is clunking." The surgeon knew immediately what it was and scheduled me for the outpatient procedure. Easiest ortho surgery ever. Good luck! See: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7732733/#:~:text=Introduction,replacement%20%5B2%2D4%5D
Me too
Since day 1. When I would swing my leg it did not swing straight it would do a double clunk and go from side to side a little. Had an X-ray a month after surgery and doc said it's not misaligned. He kept putting me off to saying it needs more time to heal. I'm almost 11 months out and have had two 2nd opinions both say I've got Patellar Clunk Syndrome. Both of them were out of state tho. My own doc says that condition does not usually come on so soon after surgery but he sent me for a MARS MRI which confirmed I've got abnormal tissue growth under my quad tendon which pops out with each bend of the knee. Also have some around the internal subvas incision. He says he can try to remove it with the arthroscope but if he can't get it all he will have to reopen the leg the entire length of the original scar. He calls it a cyclops lesion. I believe he is putting me off all these months because he is not experienced in dealing with it and is hoping I can just learn to live with it.
This article shows the procedure being done through arthrotomy (reopening the original surgical scar). Is that what you had that you call the easiest Ortho procedure ever? Or did you had the offending tissue through arthroscopy which is done thru 3 or 4 small port holes?