Unique patella tear

[Gunny2011]

I am 47 years old, retired Marine, still active after retirement. When I ruptured my patella it shredded, kind of the way your fingers look. Due to some issues with Tricare, I had to wait two weeks before my surgery. I have been in therapy for 6 weeks now and have been able to bend my knee to only 45 degrees, according to my therapist I should be able to bend between 60-90 degrees. I still were my brace all the time, do my exercises. My question is due to the nature of the tear, and how long it took to have surgery, will these issues affect how long my recovery might take?

[Gunny2011]

Thanks!

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

A delay in 2 weeks for the surgery is unlikely to have affected the healing process or the expected prognosis with the surgery. The recovery time and the expected prognosis would depend on the precise injury, its severity/ grading, associated complications, surgical repair done, PO physiotherapy & complications etc. It would be best to discuss the situation, the suggested management plan and the expected prognosis in detail with your treating orthopedician.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!