A 32 year old mother of two visited our clinic 1 month after she had a Left ACL Reconstruction surgery. Her Right ACL was reconstructed 1 month prior to the left Knee.
Our first observation was that she was at least 10 kg overweight. During the examination we found that surprisingly, no pre-surgical X-rays were done. Her surgeon had assured her a perfect recovery post-Reconstruction without investigating and examining the quality of the joint itself.
As the explanations prior to surgery were insufficient, the patient had unreasonable expectations of recovery and progress after surgery.
At our clinic she was first explained the expected prognosis keeping her body weight & "degenerative" condition of knees in view (Attached X-rays that we got done post-operatively clearly show degenerative changes)
She was then treated with utmost care & a detailed and regular re-evaluation was carried out. We encouraged her to lose weight and then worked with her aggressively on a personalized diet and weight loss regime. Exercises causing excessive loading were eliminated, to the extent that even walking as a means of exercise was prohibited. We provided her with a set of alternative exercises that were more effective, and now after 2 years she is lighter, stronger and in control of her knees.
She has been following our instruction & guidelines. She still cannot walk long distances or stand for too long, but is functional & has achieved her ideal body weight. Most importantly, she is aware and educated about her problem and the limitations it puts on her activities, so she is in charge of her life. Understanding the problem and learning the things she should avoid probably means that she will be able to preserve and use her knees functionally longer than she would have been able to otherwise.
We do not realistically expect her to be symptom-free for long, but we are happy that she is better for now.