Re: Adhesions after total knee replacement
From: gloria chaney-virgl (g.g.chaney@worldnet.att.net)
Thu Jul 5 16:49:17 2001
At Mon, 1 Jan 2001, Jayne wrote:
>
>Hi Everyone,
>
>At the suggestion of Dr. Wiseman I am posting a message here in the
>hope that I can find someone else who is in a similiar situation to
>mine.
>
>I was first diagnosed with adhesions 30 years ago after a appendectomy.
>After my hysterectomy 13 years ago though there didn't seem to be any
>adhesion build-up. I had my gall bladder removed in April 2000 and was
>told that it was riddled with adhesions which was good (Dr. Wiseman
>explained that adhesions can be good in the sense that they probably
>prevented my gall bladder from bursting). Nice to know some adhesions
>can be of benefit to you.
>
>However, my worst case of adhesions came just over 4 years ago when I
>had a total knee replacement and I had great difficulty in bending my
>knee after the surgery. I put this down to the pain I was experiencing
>but still thought that something else was wrong.
>
>I was not placed on a CPM right away because my surgeon didn't think
>they were of any use. I had intensive physiotherapy right from the
>start though but it didn't help.
>
>My physiotherapist was wonderful, confused at my situation but she
>insisted that my surgeon look into it. It was found after three months
>that it was probably scar tisue so I was admitted to have this removed.
>This time I was put on a CPM right after I awoke from surgery. When I
>was discharged I was up to 70o of flexion which was far better than the
>20o I was getting before the surgery.
>
>BUT this all went downhill again. After a few days I was finding that
>when I had to get out of the machine (say to go to the bathroom or
>something) I experienced a great amount of stiffness straight away and
>when I strapped myself back into the machine I had to turn down the
>flexion control and work my way up again over a period of say an hour.
>
>I was getting really fed-up with this and so my surgeon referred me to
>another surgeon who subsequently operated on me by giving me GA and
>tried to flex my knee but only got a 10o flexion out of it.
>
>A few months after that operation he tried to remove the scar tissue by
>doing a scope on me (less invasive) and then injected the joint with
>Synvisc (a gel injected into joints to help lubricate them and make them
>easier to move). I had to have a further two shots of Synvisc a week
>apart and all this time I was still on the CPM. But nothing worked and
>I am now disabled with a fused knee.
>
>As anyone else gone through this? If so, I would love to hear from you.
>
>One thing that really bothered me was my doctor, some friends and even
>my own family members thought this was all in my head and that I could
>bend my knee if I really wanted too. It wasn't until almost a year
>after the initial surgery that everyone finally believed me that it was
>the rapid build-up of adhesions that caused my knee to fuse and that my
>head was perfectly fine.
>
>Thanks for listening. There is one consolation here in that it was my
>left knee that fused and I can still drive the car. *-)
>
>I am know wondering if the pain I am experiencing underneath my rib cage
>may not be a kidney stones (I was diagnosed with these a year ago) after
>all and could be adhesions where my gall bladder used to be. I find out
>this Friday if there are any stones and if not then I'm off to my GP to
>figure where the pain is coming from.
>
>I am fortunate that I have a doctor who is very understanding personal
>friend and listens to me.
>
>Anyway, before this turns into an epistle I'd better sign off.
>
>Take care
>
>--
>Jayne
>
--
I was swimming today with a friend that is a retired OBGYN. We both are retired and swim in the same group at our local YMCA.I had a total knee replacement 6 months ago and I cannot walk a full block wothout pain. Last summer before the surgery I was still walking 2 miles at a time.My friend today casually said that maybe I had adhesions. I never gave it a thought and my surgeon just says that I will improve over time. I think it is time for me to ask him to check me again for adhesions. I am very active and he expexted me to bounce back very fast but it didn't happen. I am still using a cane to shop for groceries and am in the world of the POSTOP DISCONT.