No ROM in knee joint post Patella Tendon Repair/Reconstruction OP

Posted by carlsden @carlsden, Oct 11, 2019

Hi guys,

My dad who is a 66 year old man, had a patella tendon repair done on the 21st of August 2019. The injury occurred while he was playing football (this is not something he does often).

After the operation, he had severe swelling and was seen by 3 different physios upto now. The first one didn't push him as much in the sessions and didn't mention anything about losing range of motion. Dad's knee kept getting stiffer and harder and he couldn't bend the knee. It was always straight. The third physio, upon inspecting him said that it was past 6 weeks, and by now he should have had a 90 degree bend in the knee. He used a lot of force in the session and dad was in much pain, screaming and shouting. It was a little unbearable.
The following day, the knee was v stiff again. He has now said that the consultant may get dad to have a manipulation session under general anesthetic.

I wanted to know if this is a common case and if anyone has had this done to them. Is it normal? Whats causing dad's knee not to bend? Any advice for the course of action?

I'm very new to this forum and looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks a lot guys!

Carlsden

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Joint Replacements Support Group.

Justin McClanahan, Moderator | @JustinMcClanahan | Oct 14, 2019

Hello @carlsden, welcome to Connect. I'd like to invite a few members that have talked about patella tendon issues, @crazedredhead55, @dduke, @jp37019,

I'd also like to invite @katemschultz and @klemmerii1, who both had surgery to fix a ruptured/torn patella tendon as well and may be able to share their experience of recovery. You can also read @katemschultz's post on her experience with her surgery here, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/what-to-expect-at-rochester/.

@carlsden, is scar tissue from the surgery what has been discussed as holding your father's knee back from bending? I had a knee replacement in 2006 and dealt with aggressive scar tissue growth and had to undergo two manipulations as well. They put me under general anesthesia to manipulate the knee to break the scar tissue up. Is this what your father's provider is thinking of trying to accomplish? Has a more aggressive PT & rehab plan been discussed post-manipulation?