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 JULY 31, 2007 Knee Repair Good News, Bad News The latest news about knee repair is both good and bad. The good news: after surgery to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee, only a very small percentage of grafts fail after 2 years. The bad news: you're just as likely to tear the ACL of the opposite knee as you are to re-injure the repaired joint in that time. Surgeons do a good job with ACL reconstructions, according to a study of 235 patients who had the operation and were followed for 2 years, reports Rick Wright, MD of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis in the July issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Only 7 (3%) of the 235 grafts failed. Doctors have hypothesized that the opposite, normal knee was at equal risk of an ACL rupture as the operated knee. Sure enough, 7 (3%) of the 235 knee patients also tore the ACL in the other knee in that 2-year period. Knee rehabilitation for a torn ACL usually includes physical therapy using isokinetic exercise machines, which are more efficient than regular free weights or weight machines in gyms. These machines vary the resistance with the amount of pressure applied. The more effort you expend, the more resistance you encounter. To help prevent your other ACL from tearing, ask your physical therapist for exercises you can do on your own. These will likely include leg muscle strengthening exercises such as leg extension and leg press for your quadricep muscles and leg curl for your hamstring muscles. |
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