ACL reconstruction
This is my understanding regarding how they will fix my knee, but keep in mind I haven't met with the surgeon yet.
They have to replace the ACL. They can't just sew it back together. They can use part of the patellar tendon (but that often causes discomfort when kneeling which I do a lot), or one of the hamstring tendons (there's two, and you usually experience less than a 10% loss of strength in your hamstring if they do this) or they do an allograft (using tendon(s) from a cadaver).
My current understanding is that I tore my ACL and the other tendon (PCL) that connects the leg bones inside the joint. They usually only reconstruct the ACL, but sometimes they reconstruct them both, in which case cadaver tendons are used. I have to wait until I talk to the surgeon to see if he would want to do this.
In order to reconstruct the ACL, they drill a hole in your femur and a hole in the tibia, and they screw the ends of the new tendon into those holes. Sometimes the screws are absorbable apparently.
Sometimes it is possible to reconstruct the tendon arthroscopicly, but I assume that would only be possible if they were using part of the patellar tendon.
They have to replace the ACL. They can't just sew it back together. They can use part of the patellar tendon (but that often causes discomfort when kneeling which I do a lot), or one of the hamstring tendons (there's two, and you usually experience less than a 10% loss of strength in your hamstring if they do this) or they do an allograft (using tendon(s) from a cadaver).
My current understanding is that I tore my ACL and the other tendon (PCL) that connects the leg bones inside the joint. They usually only reconstruct the ACL, but sometimes they reconstruct them both, in which case cadaver tendons are used. I have to wait until I talk to the surgeon to see if he would want to do this.
In order to reconstruct the ACL, they drill a hole in your femur and a hole in the tibia, and they screw the ends of the new tendon into those holes. Sometimes the screws are absorbable apparently.
Sometimes it is possible to reconstruct the tendon arthroscopicly, but I assume that would only be possible if they were using part of the patellar tendon.