Peter's ACL Surgery Overview
What is an ACL? - ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament, which is located in the middle of your knee. This ligament helps to support your knee when you are rotating, twisting, or changing directions. An ACL injury is very common among athletes, especially ones that have played competitively. The ACL is strong, but it is surprisingly easy to tear if the leg twists unnaturally.
How do I know if I have torn my ACL? - Most people who injure their ACL will hear a popping noise in the knee then fall to the ground. If you tear your ACL, you will experience swelling for a couple weeks, but you will still be able to walk. Many people who have a damaged ACL don't even realize it. If you do hear a popping noise in your knee and are limping, it is important to see your doctor to get an MRI. The dangers of not correcting a torn ACL with surgery are hurting your knee worse if you play sports again or do anything active. Without an ACL supporting the knee, you could also hurt other ligaments or cartilage in your knee. Also, people without an ACL will not be able to do the strenuous activities they were able to do in the past.
What type of surgery did you get? Arthroscopic ACL Reconstruction - in this procedure 3 small incisions are made in the knee. The doctor will insert a camera and other medical instruments into these tiny holes so that he may avoid having to open the knee completely. This Arthroscopic method is much less painful and has a much lower risk of infection than the traditional open surgery method.
What did they replace your ACL with? I had an allograft, which is tissue from donor or cadaver tissue. This donor tissue is inserted into the knee and is held down by small titanium screws. In a couple of weeks the body will begin regenerating tissue around the implanted tissue. There is a small chance that the body may reject this new implant. If that hapens the patient must have another surgery. The other method of obtaining tissue for an ACL surgery is harvesting a tendon out of your own body and placing it in your knee. I have heard that there are also artificial fibers that are sometimes used.
Date of My Injury: late March 2003 (playing soccer)
Location of Surgery: North Austin Medical Center
Doctor: Scott A. Smith MD (Texas Orthopedics)
Surgery Time: 1.5 hours in surgery - 6 hours total in the hospital
Type of Anesthesia: Nerve Block + Intravenous - the Intravenous anesthesia puts you to sleep, and the Nerve Block injection is applied on your thigh. After the nerve block, you may not be able to feel your leg for up to 36 hours. When you touch your leg with your hand, it will not feel like the leg is part of your body.
Time Till Recovery: 10 days on crutches + 5-6 months of rehab. Full recovery really depends on how well your rehab goes and how much effort you put into it. It took me 1-1.5 years before I felt completely normal again and regained all of my flexibility. I was a bit lazy after 8-9 months though, so I'm sure that it could be done more quickly.
Total Cost of Surgery and Recovery: Approx $17500 (in 2003 dollars) - thank god insurance covered 100% of the ACL surgery - I just had to cover the copays for my physical therapy and doctor visits.
How My Recovery Went: I recovered quite nicely. I would say that I rarely think about my reconstructed ACL anymore, except when it gets sore after a hard workout. I am a little less active these days, perhaps due to some fear of re-injuring myself, but I have played sports all out on many occasions since hurting myself.
Contents | Next - The Injury