Knee Ligament Surgery

Recommended For Knee Ligament Surgery

Because of the pressure put on the knee ligaments while doing sports, many sports players experience ACL injuries or other types of knee ligament injury. Yet, not only sports players suffer from ACL injuries. In the first examination, doctors analyze the knee and choose to perform the knee arthroscopy operation to understand the damage and suggest an alternative knee injury treatment accordingly.

Not Recommended For Knee Ligament Surgery

Knee repair operation is not always needed in all the cases of knee ligament injury. Specifically, patients who are not sports players and not interested in sports can rest for their ligaments of the knee to get better. However, the requirement of the operation is also highly depended on the scope of knee injuries as well.

Number Of Trips Abroad

1 trip

Discharge From Hospital

Overnight stay is not required

Duration Of Operation

1 to 2 hours

Minimum Stay

1 to 2 weeks

Overview

Knee ligament is a surgical operation that isperformed in the cases of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. ACL injuries are one of the most common knee injuries, specifically very common among sports players.Among ligaments of the knee, it is most often suspect to ruptures and other damage. Fortunately, knee ligament surgery often brings back old anterior cruciate ligament’s flexibility and allows many to continue a career in sports.

Preparation

Before undergoing the knee ligament surgery, some time should pass for initial swelling caused by knee ligament tears to ease. Also, the orthopedic surgeons who will perform your surgery should be informed about your medical conditions as well as the medicines you are taking in order to decide for the type and dose of the anesthesia procedure properly.

How It Is Performed

Stitching the torn ACL or other ligament tear does not solve the problem. For these reasons, orthopedic surgeons usually perform ACL reconstruction with part of other ligaments of the knee, either from the patient (autologous) or donor (autologous). In general, knee ligament operation is performed as a knee arthroscopy procedure. During the knee arthroscopy surgery, doctors make several small cuts rather than a single big one. That way, after the operation, the recovery period lasts shorter, and the risk of infection is less in comparison to traditional knee surgery. The arthroscope, which is a medical tool with a camera and light, and other medical tools are inserted through the incisions.The orthopedic surgeon attaches a knee ligament graft onto torn ACL and makes sure that it is tense enough to function properly. Then, a knee ligament repair comes to an end.

Recovery

Knee ligament surgery necessitates a long recovery period. A couple of weeks after the operation, patients might experience some amounts of pain since there is pressure put on the ligaments of the knee while walking. However, the pain caused by the pressure can be eased with painkillers.Additionally, pain and swelling are caused partially by synovial fluid and blood gathering in the patient's shin. 
In order to get the best results from the ligament treatment during the recovery period, patients should attend the rehabilitation sessions regularly and should not neglect to do exercises as well.

Risks

Even though the knee ligament surgery is generally completed successfully still, some of the patients may experience complications regarding the procedure. The risks of knee ligament surgery involve infection, long-lasting pain, the formation of blood clots, and stiffness of reconstructed knee ligaments.

Side Effects

Knee ligament surgery has several side effects that include initial swelling and bruising in addition to the experience of pain. Besides, patients who had knee ligament surgery need to get used to their new knee ligaments.

Success Rates

Knee ligament surgery and other kinds of knee ligament surgeries have a high success rate that is around 80%. In some of the cases, permanent knee reconstruction is not achieved after the knee ligament tear surgery, and this leads patients to struggle with torn ligament longer.

Faq

What Is the Difference Between Knee Replacement and Knee Ligament Surgery? 
The knee ligament surgery is a more traditional orthopedic procedure that is mainly concerned about torn ACL reconstruction.However, total knee replacement is an operation of larger scope and may cover not only ligaments of the knee but also other parts. 

What is the ACL Surgery Recovery Time? 
Patients who are not sports players can experience a partial ACL surgery recovery within 6 months. However, patients who are athletes and do sports regularly should wait for a year in order to finish their recovery period of ligament tear surgery.

What Is a Knee Arthroscopy? 
Knee arthroscopy is a kind of knee ligament operation that involves the medical tool called arthroscope, which involves a camera. In order to reach the operation site, rather than making a single big incision, with the use of arthroscope several minor incisions are made.

Extra Content

This content is written and reviewed by our medical content team in August, 2019.