Arthroscopic surgery experiences?

[Laura B]

I just scheduled arthroscopic surgery for my knee (torn patellafemoral ligament) for next Friday. I have never had surgery before! Have any of you had arthroscopic surgery? What was your recovery time like? How badly did it hurt when the meds wore off? :eek:

[AzAnne]

I have had arthroscopic surgery on my rt. knee twice in the past 14 yrs.
for a meniscus tear. In both cases they remove the torn part.

I had the surgery on a Wed. and was back at work on Monday. I only took pain meds the first 2 days, then after that just 800mg ibuprofen. I think I could have taken a week off, but didn't need to.

If they are only doing arthroscopic surgery and nothing more invasive I think the pain / recovery is pretty quick. I only had to stay off it for the first 24 hrs.

Good luck and I'm sure it won't be as bad as you imagine

[Laura B]

Anne, that is great to hear! I hope my recovery goes that smoothly, too.

[jtoepfert100]

Laura,

I had arthroscopic on my left knee several years ago to clear out some floating pices of torn ACL. The surgery itself is done in a few hours and you are back at home that day. My recovery time was similar to AZAnne's - I think I may have taken 3 days off but I can't remember. I don't remember pain being too much of an issue.

I do want to add that you should definitely ask for physical therapy after the surgery even if the doctor doesn't recommend it. The doctor that performed my surgery was adamant that no PT was needed after a scope but several weeks later when I still couldn't straighten my leg all the way, he finally gave in. When I switched doctors, he was stunned that PT wasn't started right away.


Best wishes! :)

[Laura B]

I do want to add that you should definitely ask for physical therapy after the surgery even if the doctor doesn't recommend it. The doctor that performed my surgery was adamant that no PT was needed after a scope but several weeks later when I still couldn't straighten my leg all the way, he finally gave in. When I switched doctors, he was stunned that PT wasn't started right away.


My doctor ordered 8-12 weeks of PT right off the bat, which is great. I have already started going pre-op (in fact, I have my third appointment in about 30 minutes).

I am glad to hear about both of your experiences - they are very encouraging.

[Valerie226]

I had bigger deal knee surgery, ACL replacement. trimmed torn meniscus at the same time. Interestingly, part of my patellofemoral ligament was taken to replace my "gone" ACL.
This was not arthroscopic but a big incision. Even so, I was bearing weight the next day, very carefully. I was on a stationary bike on day 2. I took a small amt of pain meds for 3-4 days, mostly to sleep. after that just ibuprofen when needed. Ibuprofen worked fine for me without knocking me out. I was amazed at how quickly it healed and how brief the pain was. somehow, knee pain is localized, you can see the source, and it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Dental pain, now that's another matter entirely.
There's a kind of euphoria I had afterward and I wanted to progress too fast but I restrained myself and was cautious. My doc told me to "let pain and swelling" be my guide. If pain increased or I had swelling, I iced & elevated as instructed. I had a GREAT outcome, hope you do too. Good luck.

[Ostrlisa]

Everyone's different, but here's my experience: fairly extensive rotator cuff repair 2 years ago this month. The surgical day was uneventful; a friend drove me and took me home afterward, and I napped for pretty much the rest of the day. The surgery was on a Wednesday and I went back to work on Monday. I don't think I needed more than one Percocet from the prescription they gave me. PT-- now that's another story!

My observation of others (including my mother's two TKRs) is that those who weren't prepared for more than minor discomfort had a worse time of it. Just because you go home the same day doesn't mean it's painless!

Best of luck to you.

[karen w]

I had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee ~11 years ago for Osteochondritis dessicans(i.e. compromised blood supply to part of one of my bones in my knee which had to be removed as it started breaking up causing problems). I was strictly non weightbearing for 7 weeks after the surgery so the empty space could fill in with cartilage, but I recall my recovery being similar to Anne's and Jennifer's. I did not require anything more than tylenols for pain which was minimal(of course, I was not walking on it, either!) and I was back at work in just a few days. I was in the last year of my anesthesia residency at the time. They would not let me work in the O.R./take call on crutches so I had to do "research" for 2 months. I did get a paper published after the whole ordeal! :) Other knee still has a piece of dead bone, but "knock wood" it has stayed put all this time! :cool: Good luck. I hope you have a speedy, pain free recovery.

Karen

[Laura B]

Y'all must be superheroes, because I had my surgery on Friday and I am still in so much pain today! I am fairly wimpy, this is true, but still. I would think that the percosets would be knocking the pain out, but they aren't. :(

[Beth]

Laura, maybe it can be kind of like getting a shot where sometimes they just hit a nerve more than others. Whatever the reason, I'm sorry you are having so much pain and hope it quickly subsides and all is well again.

[jmarie]

Y'all must be superheroes, because I had my surgery on Friday and I am still in so much pain today! I am fairly wimpy, this is true, but still. I would think that the percosets would be knocking the pain out, but they aren't.
Laura...I'm sorry to hear that you are in a lot of pain....DH had a rotator cuff surgery done about 8 weeks ago and the pain meds didn't work for him....then he had the second done about two weeks ago and the pain meds worked better.

If the pain meds he gave you aren't working for you, please call your Dr...he will probably prescribe something else that will work. But you should plan on hurting for the better part of a week. Then it should start getting better....that's the way it happened with DH. Strangely enough, he had more bruising with the second that he had the least pain with.

Hope that you feel better soon.
Joyce

[Laura B]

Thanks, y'all. 24 hours or so since my last post has made a positive difference! I still have pain, but things are getting better. I am still taking the percocet but have reduced to half the dose and don't think I'll need the doctor to refill it once it is gone. This is harder than I expected it to be!