Stopped lengthening at 1cm…how will my recovery be?

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I lengthened both segments simul with tibia +4cm, and my doctor cleared me for walking after a little over 2mo after stop lengthening. I think you could recover faster than this. Keep staying healthy, relax and eating nutritiously.

In early stage, my new bone also appeared like yours. You have good callus, so it should be fine. One question I'd have for the doctor is about the new bone growth that spilled over to the side (in 1 of your x-ray). Because the 1cm gap maybe a bit too small, will new callus be absorbed back to where they're supposed to be?

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Quote from: liltunechi on July 14, 2022, 10:54:18 AMhttps://pasteboard.co/yYZfLPgyupCB.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/XDIzNozeMDUb.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/6YsxqP1YjX5y.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/nuq1fNRGDFdc.jpg

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333649/

One of your lateral x-rays does not show the top edge of the nail.
According to this paper, if the nail is not protruding from the tibia, then the probability of permanent knee pain is not high.
I understand your concern, but it seems to me that all you can do now is just wait and see.

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Quote from: maison on July 21, 2022, 04:41:27 AMhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333649/

One of your lateral x-rays does not show the top edge of the nail.
According to this paper, if the nail is not protruding from the tibia, then the probability of permanent knee pain is not high.
I understand your concern, but it seems to me that all you can do now is just wait and see.

correct, the nail should be hammered below the top edge of the tibia bone
ive seen xrays here of nails sticking out of the tibia - that would rub on the tendon from the back until the nail is removed not to mention the long term damage of rubbing in the tendon


to add to your post

another factor for minimizing knee pain is how the tendon has been dissected. you want a surgeon to be very very careful to cut along the tendon fibers vertically without cutting into the fibers themselves

 


furthermore avoiding removal of the nail is advisable as that would require going the same route through the old incision. perhaps remove only the screws after consolidation

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Thank you brother,  but I’m sorry I didn’t understand.

Basically is that good news for me or bad?

Based on my X-rays and the study you linked, is the likelihood of me getting chronic knee pain high or low?

Thanks again!

Here are some more x rays where you can see the top of the nail :

https://pasteboard.co/CCxhiu7CK8ir.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/blD9P4OdUIGE.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/y4z4HwjXhtl7.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/gWaYUCDz8OK5.jpg

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Quote from: boklecrt on July 21, 2022, 04:54:19 AMcorrect, the nail should be hammered below the top edge of the tibia bone
ive seen xrays here of nails sticking out of the tibia - that would rub on the tendon from the back until the nail is removed not to mention the long term damage of rubbing in the tendon


to add to your post

another factor for minimizing knee pain is how the tendon has been dissected. you want a surgeon to be very very careful to cut along the tendon fibers vertically without cutting into the fibers themselves

 


furthermore avoiding removal of the nail is advisable as that would require going the same route through the old incision. perhaps remove only the screws after consolidation

I am 6 weeks post op and still feel a lot of sharper knee pain and pain in my calves

The pain is exactly where the incision was made on my skin so the pain is coming from my tendon

It’s very sharp and localised. I feel it when I move my legs or bend them or move them a certain way. Sometimes when walking on walker too.

Would you say it’s still too early to worry about it and that this pain will go away?

My Dr told me the pain is from the healing that is happening and because of inflammation. He said it will go away.

A transpatellar approach was used btw

What do you think?

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It might also be from the nail hitting the tendons which exacerbates the pain. It's possible that you will always have a little bit of pain until you get the nails out. But 6 weeks post op is still too early to tell if it is chronic.

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Quote from: thankscience on July 22, 2022, 04:50:57 AMIt might also be from the nail hitting the tendons which exacerbates the pain. It's possible that you will always have a little bit of pain until you get the nails out. But 6 weeks post op is still too early to tell if it is chronic.

How can the nail be hitting the tendons if it’s buried in the middle of the bone ?

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Update:

Moved onto walking with crutches.  I don’t walk a lot though, only around 30 minutes a day and the rest of the time I’m just laying in bed or sitting down.

I can walk with one crutch too, but I’m going to stick to using 2 crutches for another 1-2 weeks. Then move to one.

Pain in my legs has decreased a good amount.  However, knee is still there. My right leg knee is better than my left knee. I would say since I created this thread, my overall knee pain has gone down by 10%.

I hope it gets better and better.

Tomorrow I will be getting X-rays, I will post them here.

In order to see if a screw or nail isn’t causing the knee pain, what type of scan should I get? CT scan?

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Quote from: liltunechi on August 10, 2022, 02:09:09 AMUpdate:

Moved onto walking with crutches.  I don’t walk a lot though, only around 30 minutes a day and the rest of the time I’m just laying in bed or sitting down.

I can walk with one crutch too, but I’m going to stick to using 2 crutches for another 1-2 weeks. Then move to one.

Pain in my legs has decreased a good amount.  However, knee is still there. My right leg knee is better than my left knee. I would say since I created this thread, my overall knee pain has gone down by 10%.

I hope it gets better and better.

Tomorrow I will be getting X-rays, I will post them here.

In order to see if a screw or nail isn’t causing the knee pain, what type of scan should I get? CT scan?

dont worry 30 minutes of non stop walking is quite alright, both ankles should be sore after

make sure to stand for 10-15 minutes in one spot 2-3 times a day too to put body weight on the legs

so what happened with the xrays?