numbness over most of knee Post Op ?normal

[RedDawn]

Hiya people, apologies in advance if Im posting in the wrong area but Im just desperate for some advice.
I have just undergone 'day' surgery on friday for a horizontal lateral meniscus tear with marsupialization of associated lateral meniscal cyst (arthroscopic). The OS had me on the list for total and partial lateral meniscectomy as it could not be sure 100% what was needed until he was 'in there'

Things started going bad when I was first told that surgery was running late and I would have to be admitted overnight as the day unit was closing & there would be no-one available to discharge me, so begrudgingly I went ahead.
BUT as the OS was from a different hospital he left (leaving me a 3/52 sicknote) and I didint see him or any other doc after the OP. I asked when I came round what had been done & if I would see a dr before I left the next day & was told that I would. However when I asked the ward staff they said I wouldnt see a Dr as the dr's at the hospital hadnt done my surgery & therefore I was not their patient.
I dont know if this is normal post op but Im sure someone should at leats be able to tell you what they did / how much cartilage was removed etc. There was nothing written in my notes to say what they had done during surgery & due to this the physio I saw just gave me crutches, made sure I could walk a bit & then sent me home.

I had no idea what i should be doing, any exercises or anything / rest the knee / keep it mobile So i rang the OS's sec who said i would most likely be sent a letter for a follow up appt in 6 weeks. She said if I needed physio then the OS would have written it in my notes & the site where I had the arthroscopy would send out a letter.

I was told they injected fentanyl (sp?) into the knee & was therefore not fussed to notice that my knee was numb for the first 24h or so but I have just noticed that I cannot acutally feel anything across most of the lateral side and the front of my knee & part way down my shin ( a good 15cm2 area at least). Is this normal ??
Should I be doing exercises ? Should I see someone (who is anyones guess!) about the numbness? can anyone tell me if this is normal procedure? (to be told nothing & left to get on with it) I just dont want to see the OS in 6 weeks just to be told I should have been doing something else or seeing someone about the parasthesia or anything!

I've run out of people who dont care to ask at the surgery centre & I feel like Im banging my head on a brick wall.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Dawn

[TwoBadKneesUSA]

Hey Dawn,

It's terrible that no one could tell you what they did during your op! I may not remember everything the doc said after mine, but I was told. It looks like the OS did some removal of the lateral meniscus? If he was working on the lateral side, it may be numb for a bit. The nerves do get a bit freaked out after a surgery so some numbness is common. As for what you should be doing, every doc has a different procedure. I would try the OS's office again. Explain that you don't know what you should do while you wait for your followup. Is there maybe a physician's assistant or similar at the office you can talk to? It just seems so wrong not knowing what happened in there. Something that should be safe are ankle pumps. Put you leg out straight in front of you and point the toe and then bring the foot back until the toes point at the ceiling. This is supposed to help with swelling. It's something anyway.

Hope you find your answers.

Milly

[RedDawn]

thank you very much for the adivce, I was panicking a bit over the numbness I think, i was expecting a bit bit not such a wide area. It is over the area he was supposed to be working on, and its directly over where the cyst was also so maybe will take a while to return to normal. I think i must have a fair chunk of lateral menisc removed as there is a big dip where the patella lies compared to the other knee.

when ive spoken to the OS's sec she just said if he wanted me to do any Physio he would have written it in my notes (he didnt write anything about the procedure, just the standard surgery form, counting swabs in & out etc), cos I read all my notes.
She also said that it is up to the surgery centre to send out he appt, nothing to do with her! And the surgery centre said the same pretty much, unless specificaly directed wait for follow up appt letter to be sent out which should be around 6 weeks post op.

Looks like Ive got some good candidates for the bejiing olympics anyways, cant think of a group pf people better suited to passing the buck

is it normal not to be able to bend the knee? I dont feel much pain when I try, just feels like its going to tear or burst, like a pressure build up & i give up in case I'm making it worse! I'd go see my Gp but I can already envisage him sitting there shrugging his shoulders & telling me to wait for the OS's follow up letter. The joy of the NHS

[jathib]

Gotta love "free" medical care. Sounds like they just abandon you after surgery. Can't believe you have to wait for a letter for a follow-up. In the US all that is taken care of in advance at the pre-op appointment. Doctors always talk to the person with you after surgery and tell them what was done. One of my doctors scheduled post-op appointments the day after surgery so he could see how you're doing and tell you what went on.

Numbness is normal and it should go away. There might be an area that stays numb forever. They wrap a tourniquet around your leg which cuts off blood flow.

It's normal for your knee not to be able to bend. It's all swollen and full of fluid for one thing. Keep it iced and elevated and that should subside. One way to bend it is to lay on your back and slowly slide your foot towards your butt. Use a towel or something to pull your foot if you have to. Stop when it hurts. Gradually you'll get more range.

[plantgeek58]

Hi RedDawn,
It's a shame you have to put up with such shoddy post-op care. What a messed-up system. Anyway, having had numerous arthroscopies for meniscus tears myself, I can offer the protocols I've always been given to follow.

Jathib's advice about the swelling is sound. I would add that gaining back your flexion isn't as important as making sure you don't lose any extension, as my physio has always said that that is harder to get back. I don't know about you, but for me, it is usually more comfortable to sit with my leg slightly bent when I'm elevating. My physio advises not doing that all the time, but also making sure that you sit with it straight out. If you do find that you have an extension lag, you can try lying on your stomach on your bed, with your legs hanging over the edge and just let gravity pull your leg straight. If that doesn't do it, you can add a little weight by crossing the ankle of your good leg over that of the op leg. As with any exercise, don't do this to the point of pain.

Keeping the leg mobile will also help keep the swelling down, so even when you are resting, get up once every couple of hours and move around a bit. It's OK to put full weight on the leg, but keep walking to a minimum for the first week or so. Pain should always be your guide. If the leg starts to hurt, get off it and RICE.

The first two weeks are considered the inflammatory stage of healing, when you can expect persistent swelling and maybe some heat in the knee. You don't need to be concerned unless it gets severe and/or you start running a fever. If that happens, get to an emergency facility ASAP.

Straight leg raises are simple exercises you can do to build back strength in the leg. My physio has always had me do them twice a day, every day, for the first month or so. You just sit on the floor with your non-op leg bent to about 90 degrees and your op leg straight out in front of you. Lift the op leg up about 12-15" with your foot angled slightly outwards, hold it there for a second or two, then lower it again. Start with three sets of 15 and increase as it gets easier. To make this more of an all-around thigh workout, you can do the lifts lying on either side and on your stomach, also.

Quad sets are another good exercise. For these you need a rolled-up towel or a small pillow. This goes under the op knee as your sitting on the floor, with the leg out straight. Again, the non-op knee should be bent. Keeping your heel in contact with the floor, push down into the towel as if trying to squash it for a count of five, then release. Again, start with 3 sets of 15 and gradually increase.

I don't want to suggest too many more exercises, since I don't know exactly what you've had done, but these two are pretty standard and not likely to cause problems. Hope you find this helpful. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.
Terre

[RedDawn]

Thank you very much for the advice, much appreciated. I'll get cracking with the exercises. Its reassuring to hear from people who have had similar/same procedures as I just didnt have a clue what to expect.

I dont trust the OS anyway - when I finally manged to get an appt with him after years of different diagnosis & several unsucessful physio's he was about to send me on my way to 'get on with it, its probably all down to your fibromyalgia anyway' until i pressed him for the MRI results (that I'd waited 7 months for) & all of a sudden I was being told I needed surgery for one of 3 meniscal tears and the 'bony overgrowth' his reg. had said was nothing to worry about nearly a year previously about was a lateral menical cyst.

I know dr's are human and can be wrong, but its their lackadaisical attitude that really gets to me. in this country - as long as you're not gonna die & adversley affect their government targets then no-one seems to care.

[fatcats6]

Fibromyalgia! My God, that's every surgeons "get of jail free card", alot like going to a GP with a problem and it's a virus! FM pain is easily recognisable to a suffer and other pain doesn't feel like FM pain. You know your body and I'm so glad to hear you pushed and pushed for a true diagnosis. The medical system is in crisis worldwide and we have to navigate our way through as best we can. I was told that the numbness can be due to all the little nerve endings being cut or messed with and it can take weeks-months to get the feeling back. Actually, it feels alot like when you go to the dentist and the numbness wears off, nothing, tingling abit more sensation and eventually, feeling. I have read on this site that some people never get full sensation back.

I do feel for you...being shoved out the door not knowing what you should do. I say, rest, ice, recovery and wait for the letter. Do your ankle pumps to get the blood circulating and help cut down the swelling.

[celinenj03]

I also had lateral meniscus surgery and my knee was numb from the shin down and to the right (lateral side) for a very very long time. It still feels weird some 2.5 years later. But a lot of the feeling came back. Some nerves have to regenerate. I wouldn't panic, I think it's pretty normal. Good luck!