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Traumatic OCD, Bone Cyst, and Cartilage Damage

I was diagnosed with Traumatic OCD in my humerus near the elbow joint. I have a bunch of Orthopaedic surgeons debating what to do about it... There is also a Cyst in the bone on or near the OCD. I was told there is cartilage damage causing arthritis there too.

So far, they want to core out the affected bone, and take a piece of bone and cartilage from one of my knee regions so that they can transplant the bone from there to where the OCD was.

I was told that none of the surgeons in this whole group has never done this exact procedure.

I was told something about them being unable to reach the affected region and may have to break another bone in order to get to it.

Really could use some advice here, as it's extremely invasive and they're putting a 6 month recovery tag on this.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the detailed reply. I was told that they would take the bone from above the knee joint where the cartilage isn't actually rubbing against anything, it's just kind of... there. They said the knee would only take a couple months to be back to normal, the elbow is what would take the 6 months. I experienced a bone FX above the elbow join when I was back in 4th grade, I was told if I didnt have pins, the only defect would be I would never be able to touch my shoulder. I'm now 20. And 3 years ago another from a fall from a bike, causing a radial head FX. I was told I didn't need a cast for the injury if I took it easy. I have had constant pain for 3 years now, we have tried glucosamine/chondroitin. I have been on 800mg ibuprofen prn 3x/day for the last 2 years. physical therapy for a couple months, then realized I had a golf ball sized ganglion cyst which was removed last christmas, with no improvement. I stopped taking the ibuprofen 2 weeks ago because I've had severe stomach pains for the last 3 weeks, I think it's an ulcer... anyway, w/o the pain meds I really feel it. It's preventing me from doing pushups because of the pain and i need to do pushups for police academy. (Even on Ibuprofen I cant do it. the meds only make it not hurt constantly, but it still hurts if I use it. Especially repetitive tasks.) It hurts the most when completely extending it, and when i retract my arm I get a sharp shooting pain that feels in the bone. Hopefully I can get a copy of the MRI/XRays if you'd like to look at them.

This has been a rough thing from the start to where I am now, the surgeons seemed excited because they've never had to do something this extreme before, -_-

But they eased my nerves because they were sending out my MRI's for advice from other orthopaedic surgeons, looking for someone who may have done this surgery before. It's definitely scary, just not sure how to get to it because of the angle. but they're saying 85% chance of full recovery and full use of the arm again. which I thought id never see again for the last 3 years (caused a lot of depression too seeing your future slip away because of an injury when you were 17)
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Avatar universal
Wow, I'm really sorry you're going through this! I have to say I am in the medical field...orthopedics actually :) and this is quite an interesting case! Once the bone and cartilage is taken from the knee it should be like repairing a fracture in your elbow. The will probably pin the new bone and cartilage in like they would in a fracture type situation. Now, as for the knee I would assume they are taking the bone and cartilage from an area that can regenerate because cartilage does not heal itself due to poor vascular supply. However, there is one area of cartilage in the knee that is more likely to repair itself. You will probably have to go through physical therapy for both the knee AND the elbow which is one of the reasons they think it will take so long. I think you should ask them about how the knee will repair itself and ask them also if its possible to use cadaver bone and cartilage because this may speed up recovery. I am trying to figure out where the OCS would be if they would have to break a bone to get to it. The only one I can think of would be the radial head. Anyway, if you would like to write back when you get some more information please do so! I am interested to see how everything goes and I hope you are okay and staying comfortable.
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