Ankle Reconstruction (ATFL CFL And Tendon) - What To Expect?
Jun 21, 2013
I am actually scheduled for Ankle Reconstruction (ATFL CFL and Tendon) for Monday June 24. I know im cutting it close ,but i figured i might as well do this now.
I am wondering what i am in for. I am 22year old male, just completed my last exam to fulfill my degree requirements and have nothing but my life ahead of me, no Full time job lined up so i will be home for awhile, i have a part time job but i told them about the surgery.
I am not the type of person to sit still and be in bed rest and i need something to do. I usually go to the gym 5 times a week along with yoga 5 times a week. It will take some time adjusting to NWB and everything, and i think this will be the hardest.
I've been told i will need to spend the night in the hospital and i will be released the next day.
I was wondering if anyone has any good exercises for working out, any healthy food recipes, or any help in general.
What am i to expect with this surgery. The Orthopedic Surgeon mentioned to me that he will use a modified brostrom surgery to repair my injury which was caused from an old old soccer and track injury.
Any advice on showering, washrooms and other personal hygiene?
How do you sit in a car when someone drives you, as i won't be able to drive with this being my right ankle.
Any advice in general?
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Disclaimer: If I ramble on and make absolutely no sense,
I blame my incoherence on the pain meds
Anyway, my second PTTD reconstruction is done! I had the exact same procedures on my left foot as I did on the right...FDL transfer, medializing calcaneal osteotomy, Evans calcaneal osteotomy, bone marrow aspiration, and Strayer procedure. The surgeon told my family that over two inches of the PTT was severely degenerated/beyond repair. Prognosis is a full recovery over the next 1 1/2 to 2 years.
Unfortunately, my nerve block didn't work as well this time; so, I woke up in pretty severe pain. The nurses were great and had the pain to a manageable point within a half hour. By the time I was discharged, I was able to take my first dose of oral pain meds...I was pretty comfortable on the ride home.
At this point, I am taking one oxycodone every 4 hours (down from 3 the first day) and think I will be able to start putting more space between doses tomorrow. The pain is not too bad as long as I stay "toes above nose."
Knowing what to expect in the days following surgery has definitely made these first few days smoother/less scary. Each day is one day closer to being active again!
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10 weeks ago I sprained my ankle (grade 2) and broke my 4th metatarsal. The metatarsal has healed. I started Physical Therapy 3 weeks ago. My ankle is still very tender to the touch and very painful during my daily activities. My MRI showed 3 bones in my foot are also bruised and a couple ligaments on the top of my foot are torn.
My orthopedic said surgery is an option in my case but he wanted to try TP first. TP isn't going well. I'm usually in so much pain they cut the exercises short.
Last week my ankle gave out twice and I'm pretty sure I re sprained it. I called my doctor and left a message with his assistant saying I want to talk about surgery. She called back and said the doctor said to give TP more time. So he doesn't know I probably reinjured it.
The last 3 days my foot has been very swollen and bruised again. Looks almost as bad as day 1. But only feels like a 6 or 7 on the pain scale.
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I am just writing with the hope of getting some more help/assurance re the Gould brostrom (or as my letter has now pointed out Arthroscopic debridement and lateral ankle reconstruction - unsure if this is the same of different?) procedure which I am due to have in just over 2 weeks on the 22nd June.
I have been very unsure for a while now as to whether or not to go ahead with it but have decided to take the plunge, however I still have my doubts!
I injured my ankle initially around 5 years ago (ruptured ATFL showed up in MRI scan) and almost had the surgery back then, only to decide not to go ahead with it. Since then I have rolled over and sprained it on multiple occasions, and have felt it become increasingly weak to the point where I have very little confidence in its strength. When playing football I now wear lace up supports, which are strong enough to prevent the rolling, but obviously doesnt deal with the root cause and there is a still a feeling of achiness and limited movement. When not wearing my ankle supports I would say its at least a 50/50 chance I'm going to roll over on my ankle every time.
I can still run and go about my everyday life virtually without any issues (feel twinges but nothing major unless recently sprained) and the views of the consultants varied from the cautious 'maybe only have it if you're playing high level sport' ( which I'm not but just play football weekly for my local team), to saying yes I go for it as its clearly getting weaker and weaker and becoming more of a frustration.
I guess alongside asking for advice as to what to expect post op, I am also seeking assurance that by going ahead I am making the right decision (bearing in mind surgery is considered last resort and rehab process is lengthy).
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I'm 34. I had a left ankle reconstruction for instability with a ligament repair and arthroscopy in July 2015.
My recovery has been slow due to hip operations around the same time. My ankle has healed well however the range of motion is still below neutral for dorsiflexion though it's improving.
I still have loud cracking on the outside (lateral) aspect of my ankle where the ligaments were repaired. It's terribly painful and my ankle swells straight away each time. It usually occurs with shifting my weight. My ankle surgeon says it's scar tissue breaking down but is it usually accompanied by a loud painful crack in the same area each time. I'm worried it's not ok.
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I had ankle reconstruction + arthroscopy 2 weeks ago today (on 7/22). Originally the plan was to first do the arthroscopy, and see if I needed a chondroplasty or ankle debridement and then do a Brostrom-Gould for the ligament I tore. I was never told exactly what my surgeon did, but when he finished my surgery he told my mother that it turned out he was able to do much less than he believed he would need to. Cartilage looked good (except for a bit of discoloration and degeneration which we are looking into the cause of) which is a miracle considering how many injuries this ankle has suffered. So no chondroplasty or debridement. I'm not sure if he did the Brostrom-Gould or if "doing less" meant he was able to salvage the ligament and just sew it back together.
Everything was going pretty well until I accidentally got my splint wet last Thursday (8 days post-op). I went in to the office and my doctor came in and looked at my incision, which he said looked great, and he told the nurse she could take out my stitches and put me in a hard cast that day instead of waiting until today, which was supposed to be my first post-op visit (14 days post-op). There were steri-strips across most of the incision, and she cut the stitches at each side of the incision, and one on the inside of my ankle from the arthroscopy (for a total of 3 stitches). I am confused as to whether she took out all the stitches, since it seems hard to believe that they would close an almost 2 inch incision with 2 stitches, and only one of the arthroscopy incisions would have stitches in it.
Anyway, they put the hard cast on me, and my surgeon told me I could ditch the crutches, so I started progressive weight bearing the next day. I got up to about 50% weight while walking around my house with only one crutch, which did not hurt too much and was not causing excessive swelling. However, yesterday a friend called me as a last-resort when she desperately needed a ride, and I agreed, glad to have an excuse to force myself to leave the house for the first time in 2 weeks. I walked to the car with ease, and while the drive ended up taking much longer than I expected, the surgery was on my left ankle so I was fine. But walking back to my house late at night when I was tired, I put much more weight on it than I meant to, and I tripped once and ended up putting full weight on the foot. Of course it hurt, but it did not worry me too much until about 20 minutes later when I was finally dressed for bed and lying down with my foot elevated. Until then I had experienced almost no pain in my ankle except some normal expected pain when walking or if I let my foot hang for too long. This was a completely different pain than I had felt before, very sharp and throbbing right where my incision was (before then I could not even tell where the incision was by feel). It was so bad that I had to take two oxycodone before I could relax enough to sleep.
I have kept off of it since then and it feels okay unless I move it, since there is a little bit too much room in my cast - I can wiggle up and down and my ankle can turn a bit. These tiny movements probably won't seriously damage anything, but they hurt and sometimes the incision brushes up against the side of the cast and it stings a lot. I am not taking any pain killers today and my ankle feels almost like it did before I walked on it, except now I am able to constantly feel (not pain just awareness) where the incision is, when before I never felt it.
I am just worried that I could have damaged the ankle somehow by putting so much pressure on it so soon after surgery, especially since I wasn't technically supposed to even start walking on it until tomorrow, 7 days after I actually started to walk on it. It seems a little off to me like that my surgeon told me to walk on it 8 days post op (maybe he forgot that I was there earlier than I was supposed to be?) I have also been very worried that I could have torn open the incision somehow, since the stitches came out so early and there was only tape holding it together (I think), which very well may have fallen off by now.
I was hoping I could get some insight from other people who have maybe gotten their stitches out super early or walked on their ankle too much too soon and see if your pain was anything like mine.
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I am scheduled for a total ankle reconstruction in 2 wks and hoping some of you will have some words of wisdom or tips/advice .
I'm going to be on bed rest for the first 2-3wks, in a cast for 12wks, NWB for 8wks and not able to drive.
Any suggestions as to what I should have on hand to make life easier while being on bed rest and while NWB? We've invested in a cold therapy unit for the immediate post op period . I'm a wimp when it comes to pain so hoping the cryotherapy unit combined with the pain med's will leave me with minimal pain.
I'm not one to lay around and do nothing....always have to be out and about doing things. This is going to a very mentally challenging few weeks/months.
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I'm looking for any kind of help/relief from tarsal tunnel symptoms and pain. I had a severe sprain (lateral ankle and high ankle) the end of October that has just turned into so many additional problems, one of them now being tarsal tunnel. I've had the EEG to confirm. I've done cortisone, steroids, PT with ultrasound and all kinds of other treatments. I need to have ankle reconstruction done and they are planning on the tarsal tunnel release at the same time. It should have been scheduled and done already, but I managed to herniate L5/S1 so bad that surgery couldn't wait on my back. I'm almost at 3 mos post op for that. With the recovery for that all my ankle problems had subsided because I wasn't working or on my feet much at all.
Now I'm back to work and living my normal life again - all the pain and swelling is coming back. In the last week, the aching, burning and tingling has kept me up three nights. I try and stay off my feet at work as much as I can (I only work 3 days, 5-6 hrs a day), but by the time I get home my foot hurts so bad I could cry. It's the inside ankle, heal, arch and now even the front of my ankle going up into my shin. I bought some KT tape and plan to take it to PT (for my back) to see if they will show me how to apply it for my ankle.
Any advise or similar symptoms. I have an appointment to follow up this Thursday. I'm hoping for maybe another injection (last one was in January) just to get me through til I get the surgery. I really don't want this during the summer, I'd much rather hold off until early fall.
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I will be having Flatfoot Reconstruction Surgery in May and am trying to get a handle on the recovery. I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment, ground floor, but with 2 semi-steep steps leading inside.
I'd love to know anyone's experience with steps/stairs after this type of surgery. Also am looking for a recommendation for a good foam wedge for foot elevation...and actually anything else you might want to share. I'm a bit overwhelmed at how arduous the recovery may be.
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I think I saw this mentioned before, but do you have some helpful hints about sleeping after surgery? I'm a side sleeper with pillow between knees. It's about the only way I can sleep. Yea, it's probably not possible at the beginning. Also, did anyone put a "blanket support" at the footboard to hold the blankets and sheets off the foot?
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I had a modified brostrom ligament reconstruction back in October of 2013. I am still having a LOT of pain in my ankle. It is very much more stable now that it used to be... Before the surgery it was like every step it was close to popping out of place due to the ligament, however I still have severe pain in my ankle and shin... Does anyone else experience the same issue, and any advice on what I need to do? I called the OS and they recommended me going back to the brace and although that works, I would like to at some point be without the brace, because it hurts even with the darn brace on!!!! It just feels more protected while in the brace but it doesn't stop the pain from happening.... It aches like when you have the flu, I feel achy in the ankle all the time, but w/o the brace it HURTS about a 5 out of a 10.. I have a very high pain tolerance and would say the pain is about the same as it was before the surgery.. The pain before the surgery was never so bad I couldn't deal, but it was like all day nagging pain... I am still having that pain. Is that normal 6 months after surgery?
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I was hoping I wouldn't have to come back here, as I haven't been around for awhile... But, surprise!
I got a dog last Monday. She's going to be trained as a medical assistance dog (I have uncontrollable epilepsy and severe, crippling migraines), and I was taking her out for a walk. It's storming now, but at the time, it was REALLY windy. The screen door slammed right on the back of my ankle.
Ripped all of the skin off, blood everywhere, numb toes, can't stand on my toes, can't bounce on my toes, nothing. Can barely walk at all.
However, my mother will NOT take me to the ER. If this isn't a partially torn Achilles' tendon, then everything I know about my ankle is just, wrong. Unfortunately, this is the same ankle I had my Brostrom procedure done on back in September.
We're going to try to get an appointment with my surgeon tomorrow, but it's very unlikely, and that means I'm going to have to wait a week unless I can get her to take me to urgent care tomorrow afternoon.
The boot I have is my post-op boot. It's not got the Achilles wedge in there, and so I have a strong feeling I'm going to end up with a new/different boot, if not a cast. I haven't felt pain like that since my original ankle injury.
There is NO differentiating my calf from my heel. There's no curve whatsoever. It's just all swelling, bruising, ripped off skin, and blood.
I was really hoping I wasn't going to have to come back here. Long time, no see.
What to do for the time being?
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I had my surgery 7 weeks ago and am finally in a boot and can walk again with the help of 1 crutch. I am driving and going to physical therapy 3x a week. The first 5 weeks were very hard not being able to put any weight on my foot. A knee scooter was a tremendous help. I was not In very much pain and got to go shopping and out to eat. Getting the cast off at 5 weeks was great. Hopefully the rest of my recouperation will be as easy.
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I'm after some advice, anecdotes etc. Two years ago I sprained my ankle quite badly and it never really healed. It has bothered me quite a lot since, particularly after walking and running but seven weeks ago I broke the head of the fibula on the other leg and the ankle has become very angry as a result of having to take almost all my weight for so many weeks.
I mentioned it to my orthopaedic consultant at my last appointment, was x-rayed and it was then explained that there is a two year old avulsion fracture there; the bone and ligament never reattached. As well as this, I also have sinus tarsi syndrome. The ankle is very painful and unstable and he strongly recommends a repair. I have a podiatrist friend who suggests strapping, rehab and a steroid injection.
Has anyone had anything similar and what route did you go down with what result?
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Well MRI findings of my r/ankle 2 days ago thickening of achilles tendon/T2 hyperintensity,increased fluid in retrocalcaneal bursa,fluid is seen within tibiotalar joint, prominent venous tributaries in the tarsal tunnel. Has anyone been or heard of this,i am going on a year and a half no relief. Ortho says he can't do anything for me this is due to my Failed Back Surgery 4 yrs ago .He is referring me to a pain management ...
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Very nervous about this surgery. I guess it's the not knowing. I am due to have surgery on Nov. 5. The doc said I could be off work between 2 weeks and 4 months. He doesn't know whether I will have a cast or back in the boot I've been wearing since the end of August. He also said he won't know how much if any weight bearing I will have after surgery. The amount of damage is unknown and no real reason to due MRI since the injured area is visible.
I do know I have no support at home as hubby will be at work and kids at school. Please advise
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I am currently 8 weeks post op from a very extensive flat foot reconstructive surgery . I was excited to start partial weight bearing this week starting w 25 percent in a boot.
My problem is I have sharp pains coming from the bottom of my heel which I am thinking may be from the screws from the calcaneal osteotomy. This is making it very difficult to put any pressure on my foot when weight bearing ?
Has anyone experienced this ? Did it go away on its own? Was there anything that helped this . I am afraid I will not be able to proceed the wt bearing with this continued heel pain.
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I had reconstruction of my left foot. I am 7 1/2 weeks Post op. I was in the hospital for 4 days with a nerve block behind my knee and drugs through a pushbutton pump. pain was managed. I was sent home with perks and vicodin.
For the first week I was told to take the pain meds before I felt the pain which was every 4 hours. After the perks I was able to use vicaden, however I didn't like the vicodin so I went to tramadol. That was only for the first two weeks. My dr does not believe in hard drugs after that. I was in a cast for two week which was the worse for me😔I felt very confined and tight.
Went back to the Dr to only find out an additional 4 more weeks in the cast. Total of 8 weeks, I am now in a boot an able to bear 1/3 of my weight along with PT and exercises at home.Weight bearing is gradual. Takes 3 months for full weight bearing. It is a very long process with lots of patience.
My knee roller is a blessing.Before weight bearing I tried hopping on crutches and fell, please don't try that.
Be honest I haven't felt myself since surgery hope it's part of recovery...I would like to know if you feel not yourself yet after 7 weeks. I am the type of person that loves to run out every chance I get and sometimes I am not up to it because it's tons of work with the boot. I sincerely hope after 3 months I can work by myself. Let me know if anyone feels the same.
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If you used both crutches and a knee walker after surgery, how much did you depend on your crutches? I tried using crutches today for my upcoming surgery, and I don't think I can go more than 15 feet with them because of elbow problems.
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I am one week post op after having achilles debridement & FHL tendon transfer. It all started following having my haglund's deformity removed last November, the pain in my ankle never got better following the original surgery infact it got worse. 4 months down the line I was still only able to mobilise for no more than 2 hours.
Following physio (which made things worse) & MRI scan my surgeon still thought it was a nerve problem. I had a constant battle with the surgeons for 6 months before they would do anything. I kept telling them it was my achilles!
Anyhow, last week they operated again & said my achilles was like "mush", they then debrided it & grafted the FHL tendon & muscle. Im now in a backslab, non weight bearing & still in a considerable amount of pain. I have been told that it is going to be a long recovery!
Would be most interested in hearing how people are recovering, what your mobility is & was post op & anything else that may help. Including recovery times as my job requires me to be on my feet for a minimum of 8 hours at a time!
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I'm a 42 year old female. Six weeks ago I was climbing ropes at the gym and dropped down from 4-6 feet onto a piece of excess rope resting on the ground. My ankle rolled and pain and swelling occurred immediately. Being a stubborn woman, I walked it off until the swelling started spilling over my shoe.
Got an X-ray from the orthopedic who said nothing was broken.
I was on crutches for 2 weeks and still in an air cast boot when I'm on uneven ground or working out. My workouts are modified (rowing, 12" box steps, shoulder work, cleans)and ankle swells 4x the size afterwards.
My current problem/question is this: Saturday I walked without the book (tennis shoes) on a flat surface and was very careful not to twist/turn or injure the ankle. Of course, it swelled 4x the size, as it always does each afternoon.
However, pain woke me up in the middle of the night/early the next morning. I couldn't put any weight on the foot and experienced severe pain over my medial ankle bone. It was extremely tender to the touch and any movement caused sharp pain.
One day later, it's sore but the severe pain is gone.
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