RUPTURED PATELLAR TENDON

[FINFAN3DP]

I fell down three steps and ruptured my patellar tendon. My injury occurred 12/14/06, my surgery was 12/18/06 and they discharged me from the hospital on 12/19/06. 1/3/07 at the docs he said to do quad flex's 30 times twice a day and 10 heel toe points every hour. Next appointment on 1/18/07 I get the x-ray like usual then go into the exam room. He comes in, takes off my brace, throws it on the counter and then tells me to lay down. (i truly think he told me to lay down so I couldn't punch him when he did what he did next.) Next he grabs my knee cap and starts yanking it side to side and massaging my knee very roughly. He tells my wife she has to do this twice a day, ten to fifteen times and then pick up my knee so it bends a little 3 to 5 times. He then told me I couldn't have my brace back and sent us home with a script for Physical Therapy. I guess my question is, it has only been 4.5 weeks since my surgery and now i can't have the brace? Fast forward to today 1/31, only 6 weeks since surgery.  Doc had me put my leg off the edge of the table then proceeded to push down on it little by little until I was literally crying.  I'm a 39 year old big guy that doesn't cry. I'm really concerned that this guy is too agressive and he is going to rerupture it.  I'm a 350lb guy and I really don't want to have to go this surgery again.  Should I start looking for another doc?

[swamitime3]

As far as the quad spasms, they were minor compared to what you seem to be going through.  It would mostly twitch and that was about it.  Lasted about 10 sec. so they said just normal for this type injury.  I don't have them anymore.  Sounds to me like that quad is just tight and needs to be stretched.  I had similar issues early on thinking no way in hell that it would bend.  They would stretch it out and it would hurt like crazy, but with the work I did at home it just started going.  My advice is BIKE BIKE BIKE!  Saved me!

Mike

[playne]

Thanks for the feed back. I had my left one rupture in 99, now its my right one. The Therapist says my quad muscle is stronger than it should be. He works really hard trying to bend it and it wont move. You stated you had quad muscle spasms, did they do anything for them.

[swamitime3]

So, Nov 19th will be my 5 months.  I am at 130 degrees of motion of which 125 degrees is comfortable.  They have told me Dec 15th is my last day of PT.  I will be going every other week until then.  I even rode my bike to PT last week.  I'm doing squats and stairs with stairs being tricky.  I can push up but it isn't easy.  I find it funny that 5 months post op and something like that is still difficult.  I can ride a bike 10 miles yet struggle to get up stairs.  I can sit normally at a desk and stay seated for periods of time with no fatigue.  

Well, the key is to work that leg with every exercise that you can.  Get to that bike and ride it!

Good Luck everyone..

[swamitime3]

That sounds brutal.  I have had typical little spasms of the quad but nothing as violent as yours.  Was this the same knee?  Everything is in tact, no rerupture?  I know I fellt stuck for what seemed like forever but I managed to get through it.  Once I was able to ride the bike that was the turning point.   You also said you heard a pop.  That was either scar tissue or the tendon but you say it is still in tact.  I say the quad is just weak and needs time to stregthen.  Keep working it and it will get there.

Good Luck.

[playne]

I ruptured my right patella tendon on 9/6/10 and had the surgery on 9/9. This is the second time I have ruptured a patellar tendon, so I knew what to expect. The morning after surgery I got out of bed to go into the living room. As I was doing this my quad muscle went into a violent spasm that caused me to fall. I called the Doc and he said as long as I had the brace on everything was ok. Two week later I had the staples removed and the following week I started PT, only to find out that everything the therapist tried caused my quad muscle to spasm. We tried everything for weeks. Finally after working really hard at home I could bend my knee to 50 degrees. Went back to PT and they were shocked. Had a good therapy until the end, when he placed a starp under my leg. He stated the weight from my foot should pull my leg down when we raise my leg up. When we raised my leg up he unlocked my brace and my leg didnt my. Did not even drop to 10 degrees. Went and had xray and mri 5 weeks post op and everything was intact. Went back to the Doc and all he said was he was worried about my leg being stiff. Sent me to a rehab specialist and she stated it might be capsulitis and told me to be aggresive and put me on a muscle relaxer. Went back to PT and told the therapist what the DOC said and we went at it hard. It hurt like no other but I fought through it with nothing changing. Therapist finally said lay on your stomach and lets try to bend it that way. I rolled over had my wife sit on my back and the therapist started bending my leg with all his might. I got to around sixty degrees and there was a loud pop followed by lots of pain. My question is has anyone had problems with violent quad spasms and if so what did you do about it ? We believe that the spasms are keeping me from bending my knee and know scar tissue is becoming an issue. Please Help

[sugar1220]

Thanks for the updates. FYI, I am twelve weeks out and at about 55 to 60 degrees ROM.  I started outpatient PT this week so I expect that the ROM will start to get better as the outpatient therapy will be more aggressive than the inpatient therapy I was receiving. At least now I can manuever a little better so while progress is slow, it is happening.