Is the Healing Time for an old ACL injury Longer or more difficult?

Dr Vinod, Hello again, and thank you for the help you have given me in the past couple of weeks, answering my questions. I have an appt with the Orthopedic Dr. and was told I will be given options when I see him.( whatever they may be...) My questions is this; Since my ACL knee injury is older, perhaps a year or more, is the recovery period any more difficult or longer than someone who just injured their knee, if the procedure is the same for repair? Also being older, 56, how does my age figure into the recovery ? Does my age prevent repair in any way?
                             What is your opinion or any suggestions?  Thank you again for your help!

                                                                                                                    fluffypurrcat

[Dr Vinod]

Hello!

The anterior cruciate ligament tears if they are minor like grade I and II can be successfully treated by conservative treatment like immobilization in a cylinder cast. After a few weeks the swelling decreases and adequate strength can be regained by physiotherapy.

If the ligament injury is not treated or it is long term or grade III then it gives rise to instability of the knee joint. In long run this leads to osteoarthritis.

Ligament reconstruction or repair of ligament will depend on the technique adapted and there are chances in your case that the healing may take time as considering your age.

Discuss with your operating surgeon.

Take care!

[benhannan]

All other things being equal, recovery from an ACL reconstruction should not be longer based on an older injury. If anything, the reverse would be true because a more recent injury will still have swelling that ideally needs to disappear before an ACL reconstruction can be performed. An older ACL tear means the leftover ACL parts would have dissolved over time, there'll be less to clean up on the inside of the knee, and there is no injury swelling to deal with.

The ACL reconstruction procedure is the same regardless of how old the injury is. And your age does not prevent you from having ACL surgery.

Would be worth getting hold of the Complete ACL Reconstruction Guide found at: http://www.mykneereconstruction.com

All the best!
Ben