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scar tissue in knee
Hello! In 2008 I had a lateral release done in both knees, two weeks apart. The left one has been fine ever since. The right has given me problems that has been attributed to the build up of scar tissue. It has had three additional surgeries to remove it, with the last surgery being three years ago via a few different doctors. I have been having pain with it the past year and a half. The PA at the knee doc's office who has done two of the surgeries on that knee gave it a cortisone injection two weeks ago saying it may help with the discomfort (it did not) and did note how thick the knee felt when injecting the needle. He doesn't want to scope it again saying it will just return. This is in conflict with what the knee doc said back in February. I am not sure why the doc and the PA are not on the same page. Only reason I did not have it done in February was due to timing. I was planning on having it scoped again at the end of October, which is why I went back out to the facility (wanted to have a final discussion). I am actually traveling to the Rochester Mayo Clinic for the first time on October 1st for my PKD/PLD and the thought was to have knee surgery once back. Because the PA and the doc are not on the same page I have scheduled yet another appointment mid October to chat with the doc. I don't understand why I should just let it be and continue to deal with the discomfort. I am an active 43 year old and have had to pretty much stop cardio due to the knee issue. I do have some DDD in my lower spine and a small annular fissure and I have to wonder if I am limping some, unknowingly, which has caused discomfort in that area as well. It may be the chicken or the egg...is the limping from the spine hurting or the knee. Anyway, any thoughts on this? I understand another surgery may form scar again but I do have a wonderful physical therapist and she and I already had a game plan in place to help prevent it. Or, do I just accept the discomfort for the next 40ish years?
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Hi, @amywood20 Welcome to Connect. I'm sorry your post has not seen any responses yet but there are a number of discussions out there about scar tissue in the knee after knee replacements, and I would think this is fairly similar. I was not familiar with lateral release so I googled it. How did you kneecap get out of alignment?
Here is a link to one of the discussions about scar tissue, but if you put "scar tissue knee" in the search field above you will find even more.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/scar-tissue-after-knee-replacement/?pg=55#comment-317322
What really caught my attention in your post was that the PA did a surgery? I had no idea that PAs could do that since that is only a two year program and becoming a surgeon is a much lengthier and involved process. Perhaps that varies by state, or maybe since it's arthroscopic it is considered to be minor enough to not require a surgeon.
I hope you find what you are looking for in one of the existing discussions. I am not as young as you at all but I was very active until I fractured my femur at the end of July so I completely understand how not being able to do what you had been doing and what you want to do is distressing. I also have a similar situation now with this problem causing others -- my knee is hurting! I am sure that is due to the way I am walking/limping from the fracture. These things can cause such a chain effect.
JK
Thanks for the reply. The PA didn't do the surgery but does assist in them. When the doctor is booked they will set up appointments with the PA, which is how I ended up chatting with him. I did find it odd that he was making the decision about surgery. I didn't think that would be his call. As soon as I am back home from my trip to Mayo I am going back to see the actual doctor to get some of this info all cleared up. As far as what lead up to the lateral releases, not 100% sure. I "was" a runner. Knees just didn't sit right in the joint. My twin sister had the same issue and had this same surgery before I did. So I am thinking we were both kind of predisposed to have it. There's some controversy about lateral releases and I am not sure now if they are as common as before. Thanks again for reaching out to me!