hi there
had a routine right knee arthroscopy under gen anaesthetic in nov 2012. 2 weeks later on removing dressing and stiches, physio noted i was unable to do a straight leg raise. was sent to physio, had lots of tests and 2 years later am still unable to do a striaght leg raise, use stairs properly etc.my knee gives way constantly and as a result i ended up with a stellate patellar fracture and patella baja., after a bad fall 12 months ago..i have been in a leg brace for 6 months and see a physio but there has been no change in my quad. my quad has atrophied and i have no motor power. there is no sensory loss however.
any advice /?/ anything at all???
kind regards
helen
Hey 
I hope youre doing great! What kind of surgery did you have more specifically?
hi there,
i had a right knee arthroscopy for a meniscal tear as i had that and a bakers cyst.......but no activity in my right quad since the op and to this very day!!!!
can you tell me your age and your weight? this may be a more serious problem.
hi there
im 46 and am currently 12 stone, 2 stone overweight but thats through inactivity the last 2 years because of this quad. before the op i was very fit and played squash, went running and had a physical job as cabin crew.
i have had ultrasounds, alsorts of tests, seen a chiropracter etc but noone can figure out the reason for this quad inactivity which started right after the op.....at the time they said this was normal for an arthroscopy and they expected me to wake up one day and be able to lift my leg...im still waiting!!!! no sensory problems at all, just motor problems, and i now have patella baja....what are your thoughts? thanks for your response
What about down the knee, do you have problems with calf muscles and with your foot?
hi there, absolutely no problems with my foot whatsoever. my calf is quite tight acc to my physio, but i am also in a leg brace, have been for 6 months now.....my leg kept giving way due to the quad atrophy and i fell and fractured my patella about 6 months ago. fracture has healed now but got knee instability and ho quad power so i think thats why im still in a brace.
are you quite knowledgable on these things???
i just cant believe it, went in for a simple routine op and all this has happened and no one knows why !!!!
Hi Helen. Well, damage to motor nerves could cause muscle arthrophy but even tho possible, these kind of problems from a meniscus surgey are rare, however, I think they are common on bakers cyst removement, but im pretty sure your physio would notice this or even think about it, the fact that you cant do a single leg raise for 2 years now and that further injuries have come because of the lack of quad strength tells us that you did not have a good surgery, and in the best case you should have a revision surgery. I recommend you to talk to your surgeon and explain everything about your situation. Have you tried riding a static cycle?
thats really interesting...i really appreciate any advice i can get....its so difficult to get any answers and all the consultants just seem baffled!!! its all a nightmare i tell you... i wondered at one point if it couldhave beentourniquet related.
seeing a consultant 13 march....already have a long list !!!!
cant get on/off cycle coz of all the problems but physio tried me last week on a set of pedals but she said my left leg was doin all the work and overcompensating.....
I hope you will regain quad strength as soon as possible. If you get any opinion or consult id kindly ask you to post it here because im really interested in your case. Best regards
thankyou for your interest and kind words.will post any updates. best wishes,helen.
Are you able to get another opinion from a different surgeon, ? If the person that operated doesn't know I'd be reluctant to go back to them.
hi there
i have indeed seen several different consultants since the op, but they all seem baffled...... nightmare!!!!!
Yes it sure is. I hope you get favourable results..my husband is waiting for an arthroscopy and I am very nervous about him doing it, whilst he can still walk I say wait.
thanks for your good wishes. most arthroscopys are very successful...think i was just unlucky......im sure your husband will be fine...best of luck.x
Hi, I had a very similar situation. I'm lost quad control after meniscus surgery. I still have little control 10 months later. I cannot go up nor down Stairs . I can't go up on my toes,no squats ,sometimes when I walk my leg just gives out. I also have a partial Acl tear. But I just kept with the physio. My therapist said he believes it was a result of the surgery my body saw it as further trauma and shut down the leg.
So it think you maybe be experiencing what I am. My quad just feels dead!!
hi there, wow, thats really interesting as every consultant i have seen all seem mystified and cant give me a reason this has happened. do you know if your body shuts down the leg..is it possible for it to then get it to work again? my op was 2 years ago and i have no quad control at all, impossible todo a straight leg raise...not coz of pain..but just coz the leg wont do what i tell it..its like a dead weight. i am in a leg brace due to knee giving way and there seems to be no end in sight!!!am worried that this is permanent now....and i have lost my job on medical grounds as i was a flight attendant and involves a lot of bending etc......nonone will give timescales etc and noone seems to know why or how this has happened. so frustrating. have you seen any improvement with physio?and have consultants given you any more info/timescales etc?
thanks for your info
kind regards
helen
Im sorry to hear your predicament. I too am in a similar situation and was begining to think i was the only person who had this problem. I have been in a wheelchair mainly for past 18 months waiting for my knee surgery. I had surgery about 9 weeks ago and have been having problems with my bend and cant do leg lifts for toffee!! I had mpfl but have already have 2 falls and dislocations since surgery the mpfl ligament has done its job but because my quads are inactive my leg in like jelly and my knee is still unstable and so the problem continues. I also had artriscopy as part of my procedure, to see what else was going on. Ive been given till middle of may to sort my bend out by my surgeon but my physio now thinks its not really a problem with my bend and its my quads not working and the muscle loss thats the problem stopping the bend its convincing the surgeons this or finding a way to prove before they try to take me back into theatre again!!
hi there
thats really interesting....i just cant believe its 2 and a half years ago that i had the op and i cant do a leg raise..it seems the quad has totally shutdown and neither the consultants or physios know what to do. i could do a slr before the op and now i cant, but from the theatre notes it was a routine op ...but noone seems to be able to give me any answers...feel like im just waiting.....for anything...yet nothing happens...and meanwhile am still in full leg brace and very limited as to what i can do. before the op i was full time cabin crew and played squash etc...yet they are all telling me it cant be due to the op !!!!! so frustrating !!!!! how do we get our quads working again????
Hiya,
Have you tried electric strimulation or tens to wake up the quad? I read somewhere this morning this can sometimes work? Was wondering if you had tried this? After my tumble this week it restricted my physio and im not looking forward to trying the new gym equipment my physio has started me on monday as i fear its only going to make it worse again as after the last session my son had to pick me up off the floor not something a 9 year old should need to be doing but he is my little superman!! Im going to ask my physio at it when i see him next week see if he thinks it will help? Just wondered if you had tried it??
I think the most frustrsting thing im finding is my family are like oh it will be fine just keep trying and your be walking in no time they just dont get that i cant get my quads to function its like their in denial!! Drives me crazy!!