Orthopedic Surgeon
Monday May 12th, 2008
After discovering that I had a completely torn ACL in my right knee, my doctor sent me to see an orthopedic surgeon. He gave me a list of 4 surgeons that he recommeneded. Since I am a pretty active person, I chose to see the orthopedic surgeon that specialized in sports medicine. He was a younger doctor, which I found that encouraging because I felt that he would more more up to speed on the latest surgical techniques.
Since I was walking around without any knee pain, I did have a non-surgical option, but I wouldn’t be able to play sports, or walk on uneven ground. I also risked more damage to my meniscus as well as other ligaments in my knee. My other option was to have ACL reconstructive surgery.
Since I am only 36 years old, love to play sports, and have 2 very active young boys at home who I want to play sports with when they get older, I only had one option. ACL Surgery.
The orthopedic surgeon told me what was involved with ACL reconstructive surgery. They will drill a hole through my fibia on the inner part of my leg, into my knee, and into my femur on the outside of my knee. They will then make another incision on my outside of my knee where they will drill into my femur from another angle. When they have the tunnel drilled, they feed the new ACL up through my knee, use a locking pin to lock the top part of the ligament in place in my femur. Then they will use a resorbable screw to hold the new ACL into my tibia. In total, they make 4 incisions. Two for the process and two small incisions for the arthroscopic assistance. The whole process takes about an hour and a half.
Yeah, sounded pretty creepy to me too!
I did have the choice of which ACL graft method they use. My orthopedic surgeon gave me the options of using my own hamstring tendon, an autograft or I could have an allograft, or as I like to call it, dead guy tissue. ACL graft methods described.
There are benfits and detriments to both. After weighing the options and talking to friends, I chose the allograft.
