Arthroscopy with lateral release

Hello,
I am 33 years old and a Paramedic. On August 14th, 2009, I was carrying a patient down 4 flights of stairs. While pivoting on a landing to get to the nest flight, My right knee gave out. I suffered through the pain to get the overdosed, unconscious patient to the hospital. The ER doc saw me and said I had a "sprain" and to follow up with an Ortho. The orth took some xrays and an MRI. He told be I had "Burcitis". He gave me a Cortisone injection and said PT for 3 weeks and I would be fine?

Pt was painful, but I stuck to it 3 times a week. My knee pain only worsened. The Ortho refered me to a "rehabilitative pain management specialist"...he gave me Tramadol for the pain...and extended the PT for 5 more weeks. Pain worsened STILL. Went back to see Pain guy...and he said "nothing more I can do for you.....see your ortho?"....Grrrrrrrrr

Next....Back to Ortho.

He prescribes a "J-Brace" because he "thinks" I have Patella-Femoral Syndrome, and 6 more weeks of PT.
After 3 weeks of PT (pain still bad) I made an appointment to see him again.....
You will LOVE this one....He says "its your shoes"...really? c'mon. He says I have to buy BETTER supportive athletic cross-training sneakers with arch supports, continue PT, and my pain will be gone....

GUESS WHAT? Still have pain. He now orders "IONTOPHORESIS"(spell) which is electrically pushing steroids into the muscle...burn marks on my leg where fun...trust me.

After THAT didnt relieve my pain..I request another MRI or XRAY...he says they are not warranted. I said BS...Comp will pay for them...DO IT !!! He agreed to an xray.

Low and behold....shows my right patella WAY out of line !!!! GROSSLY off track.

He now....suggests PRP treatments (protein rich plasma injections) which is where they draw my blood, spin it down to plasma....then inject it into the knee to promote faster healing. Possibility of 3 injections 4-9 weeks apart.

I have been off work almost 5 months on Comp. This doctor will only tell comp I am "Temp Partially disabled" with restrictions of;
-cannot work greater than 8 hours a day
-cannot stand longer than 30 minutes at a time
-cannot kneel or squat
-cannot push,pull, or lift greater than 20 lbs
-employer must allow employee to "reposition" as needed for comfort.

??????????REALLY???????????? can anyone think of a job that will allow such restrictions?
Due to the temp/partial rate...I am getting $144/week from comp. When I was working...I made $700/week

I have been pushing doc to treat me aggressivly since beginning due to needing to return to work to support 4 kids.

Finally....He says he is gonna do a lateral release this week.

He says he is not optimistic due to the % of unsuccessful cases? reassuring...right?

I am hoping all goes well...and asking you peoples if you have any tips/tricks to a rapid recovery to return to work ASAP.

I MUST return to work in 6 weeks or I lose ALL of my ambulance full time shifts and seniority...so i need to get better right quick

I feel I should have been better by now if the ortho didnt take his sweet time making the right dx.

For those that are a bit disheartened about lateral release recovery time I'd like to give you some optimism. I am 47. I had my surgery on March 8th and will be returning to work on March 29th. That is 3 weeks. I had to be fully recovered when I returned to work since I am a Correctional Officer in a Maximum Security Prison. I never used crutches. I kept my leg elevated above my chest for the first week and iced it continuously. I forgot about the ace bandage until the 2nd week and had it on that entire week continuing the process.
I've been attending physical therapy twice a week since the operation. Today, after 17 days I did 10.8 miles on the stationary bike. No pain whatsoever. The only pain meds I have been on are Hydrocodone and Ibuprofen. I will watch to see if there is any swelling and have wrapped it and put ice on it again. Good luck to all of you in your recovery.

I had a lateral release done on my left knee a few weeks ago, and because I researched others' experiences online before I got mine done I figured I will add my story to the pot.
My issue is that my patella (kneecap) dislocated recurrently. It happened when I was 18 three times, and this year (I am 21) it happened several more times. The last time it happened (playing soccer), was the worst. It was so swollen and I was on crutches for about a month. I got the opinions of several doctors. THe first doctor pointed out that my Q-angle is larger than average, and suggested doing a TTT, or Fulkerson procedure, as well as a lateral release. The Fulkerson is a pretty extreme procedure, I thought- it involves fracturing the Tibia (bottom bone in the leg) and bolting it so that the Q-angle is smaller.
I wasn't willing to give up my very active lifestyle for what could potenially be a year or more, and the possible side effects are quite extreme (never kneeling again?! no thanks). After 2 more opinions, I decided to go with the doctor who recommended just the Lateral Release.
They surgery went well- textbook release- and my Doc cleaned up the inside of my knee where cartilage had been scraped away from the traumas. Luckily I had the procedure done the first day of my summer vacation from college, and got some time off work so I was able to keep my knee iced and elevated quite constantly. I started doing my PT exercises (I had started PT the weeks previous) gently the day after the surgery. I was prescribed Percocet, which made me a zombie who slept a lot, but by day 3 after the surgery I was off that. Large doses of Advil were sufficient to kill the pain. I was able to bear weight a day or two after, but my doc kept me on crutches for a week, which I think was a great desicion. Now, I am doing Physical Therapy once a day, and go to my Physical Therapist twice a week. My left leg is definetly still very weak, but it has been like that for a while because I wasn't able to use it for a month following my injury.
The most important thing for me right now is to stay very active with the PT and icing. I am now able to walk much further than I was pre-op- now I can go a few blocks without resting, and I am riding my bike up to a mile or so. It feels great to be a little active again. My advice to anyone who is getting this surgery is to be sure that you have explored your options, ICE ICE ICE, and stay off of your knee as much as possible to allow it to heal properly. Also, PT!!! It gets boring, but I find it helpful to spread the exercises out through the day a bit- for example balancing on my leg while talking to a friend or doing them while watching a movie. One thing I found to really help with the swelling is taking Arnica- a herb that you take in homeopathic doses. Of course, I'm no professional so talk to your doc about everything. Good luck and stay positive!!! Reminding myself that I am fortunate to have healthcare, a supportive family, the ability to take time off work, great Docs and PTs, the sun is shining, my dog is hilarious, now I can watch all these movies and read these books I've been wanting to- staying positive is the key to not getting depressed about the change from an active lifestyle to a more relaxed one.

hey mate, i have recently undergone alot of surgery on my right knee,including the new lars ACL replacement,removal of past surgical staples,bone removed from the top of my tibia and i had petalla femoral rupture wich means my vmo had torn away from the knee cap, they preformed the latral release without my permission as i was mis diagnosed before surgery...i have had alot of swelling and it put alot of pressure on my nerves and shutdown some of the muscles,my physio has since stopped my rehab advising that its still to swollen(4months post op)...i had hardened swelling around the joint on the outside of me lef where the latral rel.was done and was very painful, the outer of my thigh from my hip to the bottom of my knee is over tight and the inner is still to weak leaving me with a dangerous muscle imbalance...
i personally dont recommend it and have since found that simply regular stretching and massage will have a match better result...the muscle has over tightend but i dont agree that cutting thru it solves the problem...and in my case after all the stuff ive had done its been the most difficult to manage and the most hindering thing to me having a speedy recovery!!

i have also read medical records from all over the place that in most cases surgical release of a knee cap has more negative effects than positive and in most countries now its only done in exceptional circumstances such as mine where the surgeon dislocated my leg during surgery!!

I had a lateral release on my left knee in 1989. It is now 2010. In 2003, a pocket of fluid (varies between baseball size and softball size VERY big) came in the left superior lateral compartment of that knee. It has persisited up and down (mostly up) for seven years. MRIs are inconclusive because the is so much edema (reports read 'massive edema') .. uh, hello, yes, anyone could tell by looking at it. I think this is a BAD idea to have this surgery. The body has a lateral retinaculum to hold the patella in place for a reason. It makes sense that if you cut it you will eventually have entrapped fluid somewhere it shouldn't be. PT has not been helping. I continue to try to work all the muscles around it as best and as gently as I can. Any advice or doctors who can try to reverse this surgery would be helpful. I'm willing to travel to someone who knows what they're doing here. thank you.

I'm a bit nervous about writing this because the universe works in funny ways and it may bite my balls after I hit post. I am 5 weeks out of a lateral release. I also had a membrane removed from my lower quad, fractionally above my knee cap, and also had cartlidge sown up under my knee cap. I play ausie rules footy and I really wanted to get back quickly. I wanted to run after 6 weeks recovery. At 4.5 weeks I thought I was no chance of running again for a while. The next day I went in the gym and worked on my quads on a cross trainer as it is low impact and i dont have to bend my knee as far as I would on a bike. The next day I woke up and my knee felt that much better its ridiculous. I did it again the next day and it feels better again. I don't know if it was because blood flow increased to the area or because I got the knee moving again but now running next week seems very possible. I went for a jog in the park for 100m and had no pain. Fingers crossed

I had this procedure done two days ago and I have only had to take a couple of Tylenol since I have been home.  It is swollen, and painful to bend, but not unbearable.  The swelling has gone down quite a bit already and the pain is very mild compared to what I had feared.  I don't know if it has helped a lot yet, but I have high hopes.

I had a lateral release done 20 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did!  "Back in the Day" you were in a full leg cast without bending it for 8 weeks!  I dont know if perhaps there's something to be said about the long recovery time, because I had little pain and no problems with that knee since.  The only thing I cannot do, and the surgeon told me this after surgery, was to ride a bicycle?!?  In the last 20 years I have tried it 4 or 5 times and every time I end up back in a brace with tendonitis....Other than that...life is good and I have never seen a doctor with thi knee again....20 years, Id say thats a success story!

i am replying to dlfletch. I had three knee surgeries. and the last one was a lateral release because my doc was stunned that after three my knee was still catching. I done major research on this lateral release and was scared too. And I must say dont do if u got another options. My knee is screwed up where I can only walk maybe 30-45 mins without it locking up on my or giving away. It hurts and all I wanna do is sit down and prop it up. Just like you I need help. Been to two different docs and the opinions where from knee replacement to its just in my head and still has to heal and its been now over two years since i had it done.

i personally had it done two years ago after three knee surgeries and i must say it made it worse now. Wish I did not do the lateral release. and I had two different opinions from knee replacement to i am depressed, lol....So good luck to you.

I had an arthroscopy with lateral release done on my left knee about 9 years ago, the first 3 months wasnt so good, it was swollen a lot and a lot of pain, but nothing like what I had before surgery. Since then my knee has never went back to the same size as before its always been slightly more swollen or bigger then the right knee. I had a second injury done to the same knee about 6 months ago, that has caused me to have more pain then I ever thought was possible, but the first surgery caused my knee to weaken, and now I have fluid on my knee. So I guess if yoiu weigh out the pros and cons the surgery did help my knee to feel better, it may be slightly larger then then right and it does swell when Im on it a lot even before this second injury, and my doctor is telling me now I probably have a little early arthritis in my left knee. Just keeps getting better. Not sure if I would have had the surgery if I knew everything I do now. I know the medical society will probably not like me very much for saying this but it is all true, and I still have pain every day and some days its hard for me to put weight on my knee., and there is not a day that goes by that I do not have to wear my knee brace, not a day.

My daughter who is 19 will be going thru this surgery. I appreciate all the info I just read about. We have 24 stairs in our house 12 up to bathroom and 12 down to her bedrom. Guess she will be sleeping on the couch. I hope she does not have any problems. She would like to do both knees at once but dr's don't reccomend it. She would have to be picked up and brrought to bathroom. Not fun for me she is heavy but only weighs 117 lbs.

Howdy! 

Just found this board, glad to read some of the stories.  I am 38 and my doctor thinks this is my last option, I've done PT and had a couple different injections, the most recent being Synvisc which made things a lot worse.  Dr says it is 50/50 that it will work, but I don't know what else to do!

i had lateral relase done on my lest knee and had no pain at all day of the surgery and no pain after i recovered within days you might have some problems later if you dont keep you knee strong i didnt keep my knee strong and i cant ski anymore since i didt really excerise my knee it also depends on how good the doctor is i went to a orthopedic specialist and he was good thats why i never had pain and recovered within days