Finally, Some Good News

Today I had my appointment with the surgeon. Nice guy. I had to wait quite a while to see him but it was worth it. I was relieved that he didn't seem nearly as concerned about my injury as I was. (I suppose he has seen much worse.) Basically, the ACL is competely torn so that will require a repair. The MCL isn't too bad. The posteriolateral corner is still attached so it will heal. The meniscus is likely only a small tear. He couldn't really test much for it because I couldn't get my muscles to relax. I tried but I still have a bit of a contracture in that knee as well.

The only thing that I have mixed feelings about is the use of my hamstring tendon for the graft for the new ACL. I have heard many conflicting things about their use and whether those or bone-tendon-bone repairs are better. Bone-tendon-bone is where they that part of the patellar tendon (of your healthy knee) and use it as a replacement. What I don't like about that procedure is that they tend to take a little longer to heal and then you have damage to both knees in some way. In using the hamstring tendon, the incisions are smaller and the healing is faster.

I brought this up to the surgeon because I was told that bone-tendon-bone repairs had a tendency to stretch out less than the other grafts. He told me that something along the lines that it is like comparing Republicans to Democrats: they're all still politicians. He said that he started using hamstring the hamstring graft a lot but then switched to the bone-tendon-bone. Now that the hamstring technique is improved, he has switched back. He says that is all in who you talk to about which is better than the other.

I spent this evening looking up studies on both procedures. A lot of them conflict each other which is typical. Both types of grafts seem to have their positives and negatives. My feeling is, that this guy is a good surgeon and came highly recommended. This is the surgery the guy does most so I can expect a good surgical outcome. The rest will amount to how I take care of it: the rehab, strengthening, etc. I like the fact that this technique will have me on my feet fast and back in clinicals. I also was never too sure if I wanted someone attacking the kneecap on my "good" knee with a chisel.

I think there is a risk no matter which way that I go. In this instance, I am going to trust my surgeon. He was able to answer all my questions and even promised me I'll be back racing.