Knee Reconstruction After an Accident: What to Expect

Your knees are the biggest and most complex joints in your entire body. Their hinging motion helps you move throughout your day. And the stability they provide allows you to stay balanced and upright while you’re standing and on the go. 

To accomplish all of this, your knee uses your thigh bone, shin bone, and kneecap alongside a complicated network of soft tissues. When something goes wrong within that ecosystem, you might need surgery.

Karl Siebuhr, MD, and our team specialize in knee reconstruction.  It’s in our name. At Reconstructive Orthopaedics of Central Florida, Dr. Siebuhr evaluates your knee and develops a plan for the procedure you need. Visit us in Ocala, Florida, to get a better idea of what knee reconstruction could mean for you. 

When an accident might require knee reconstruction

Plenty of injuries can heal without surgical intervention. When it comes to your knee, though, you can run into problems that won’t heal on their own or with conservative care.

A tear in your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) provides a key example here. Your ACL sits inside your knee, connecting your thigh and shin bones. It stabilizes your knee. If you overextend your knee or twist it too much, though, that ACL can tear. 

The ACL has a poor blood supply, which means it won’t heal on its own. You will probably need surgery. 

This isn’t the only problem your knee can have that might need surgical intervention. You might also need knee reconstruction surgery after a tear of your posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), the ACL’s counterpart located further back in your knee. In other cases, one of the stabilizing ligaments on the outside of your knee (the collateral ligaments) might need surgical repair. 

Your ligaments aren’t the only soft tissues that might need reconstruction, either. If you tear the tendon connecting your kneecap to your shin bone (the patellar tendon), surgery can help. 

In short, surgeons today offer lots of different forms of knee reconstruction. Dr. Siebuhr helps you determine what kind of procedure you need — if you need one at all.

What happens before, during, and after knee reconstruction

Before surgery, Dr. Siebuhr first makes sure you actually need it. While the ACL won’t heal on its own, some people can live with a low-grade tear. If you want to avoid surgery and you’re a candidate, Dr. Siebuhr can explore options like regenerative medicine with you first. 

If you decide surgery is the right call, Dr. Siebuhr and our team will tell you what to expect. Usually, knee reconstruction centers around reattaching torn soft tissue to the bone or repairing it with a graft. 

You can probably go home the same day as your knee surgery. We give you special care instructions. Plan to have someone help you get around for the first few days. 

Dr. Siebuhr develops a physical therapy plan to help you regain mobility and stability. This strengthens your knee and helps you avoid long-term complications. 

Recovery typically takes months. Most people, including athletes, get back to all their normal activities once they heal from their procedure. 

This is a broad overview. To get more details based on the kind of knee reconstruction you need, call our Reconstructive Orthopaedics of Central Florida office or request an appointment online.