Keyhole surgery for torn meniscus

[PowerthruIT]

Hi all,

So, further to my prior post, my Husband has had his surgery to repair his torn meniscus. It was a partial repair (so clean out the damaged part) to the lateral meniscus. It's been just over 3 weeks and he is a little concerned about his rehab. He was told he should be pretty much free after 2 weeks and back to most normal daily activities. However, he is definitely not pain-free and has a humming pain down the outside of his leg (mainly knee radiating down the shin and into the ankle) and he still cannot bend the knee more than about 90 degrees without a harsh shooting pain down from the knee to ankle; he said it pretty much feels like when he first tore the meniscus. Getting up and down stairs is still a challenge due to the pain of bending.

He has been following the rehab exercises daily, but has not yet seen the local physio (is on the referral waiting list, apparently).

Before we go forking out for a private physio I thought I'd just as if he is overreacting and just needs to let the healing take its course?

Wow, 2 weeks?! My DD had keyhole surgery on a torn meniscus and it took much much longer than that. It was probably 6 - 12 months before she was fully back to normal, ie able to play sports again to the same level. I think it was about 6-8 weeks before the pain was getting better. She was 13 at the time so I assume would probably heal much quicker than an adult too.

I think often with surgery the interpretation of 'recovery' varies wildly between what the surgeon means (no longer needing heavy pain relief) and what the patient means (back to normal). That's my experience with family member's operations, for sure.

It took me about 6 weeks before the pain subsided. My movement is limited now primarily because I didn’t see a physio soon enough (my surgery was immediately before lockdown). I’d advise seeing one, or if your GP has an MSK therapist get an appointment to see them asap and be thorough with the exercises.
5 years on, I still have reduced movement, can’t properly kneel on that knee but don’t have much pain.

My DP was told he’d be back to work within the week after keyhole meniscus repair (same as your husband) and back to normal activities by two weeks and back running by 6 weeks. To cut a very long story short, the meniscus tore almost immediately after first surgery and he’s since had 2 more surgeries. His knee is not the same but after 4 years of rehab and very gradual improvements he can do most things he could previously (he can’t run on the flat but can run hills again). I think he is a particularly unlucky case but it certainly wasn’t the in/out better in a few weeks situation laid out to him before the first surgery!

My DH had this done a good few years ago, he was also told he would be back to normal 2 weeks later, it was more like 6 weeks, he was in so much pain the first 2 weeks, he couldn’t begin to do anything. Luckily we spoke to a friend who had the same procedure and said he was the same. Saying that, once the pain started to go away, he was able to do more and certainly the knee felt better.

Thanks all for your comments. It would definitely seem that the two weeks were very optimistic! My DH feels less anxious now and will just continue with the rehab exercises and some light strengthening.

Much appreciated