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MRI or Arthroscopy


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HI

 

Just looking for some advice. Was knocked of my bike quite badly approx 8 weeks ago.

Two fingers broken etc. Anyway only lingering issue is my knee. SO I have two options it seams. One is to have the arthroscopy done and at the same time have fixed whatever is the problem. and two do the MRI 2.5 k co payment, but know exactly beforehand what awaits. I have major anxiety around the fact that i may not be able to drive for six weeks.

 

My other major gripe at the moment is I cannot stand and pedal. At the moment, physio suggested i lower my saddle on my trainer to increase knee range of motion.

 

Basically very confused at the moment .

 

Dr Graig Solomon at Gape gate medi clinic is the surgeon.

 

Any Advice welcome.

 

Regards

Paul

 

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HI

 

Just looking for some advice. Was knocked of my bike quite badly approx 8 weeks ago.

Two fingers broken etc. Anyway only lingering issue is my knee. SO I have two options it seams. One is to have the arthroscopy done and at the same time have fixed whatever is the problem. and two do the MRI 2.5 k co payment, but know exactly beforehand what awaits. I have major anxiety around the fact that i may not be able to drive for six weeks.

 

My other major gripe at the moment is I cannot stand and pedal. At the moment, physio suggested i lower my saddle on my trainer to increase knee range of motion.

 

Basically very confused at the moment .

 

Dr Graig Solomon at Gape gate medi clinic is the surgeon.

 

Any Advice welcome.

 

Regards

Paul

 

At 8 weeks and you're still having pain and serious discomfort just go for the surgery. 

From my personal, non-medical-professional experience, if the pain is not significantly less after 4 - 6 weeks' rest you most likely need surgery.

Edited by stefmeister
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My thing is i dont really know what is wrong. and that is why i would go mri. exploratory surgery not really my thing

Medical "advice" is a dangerous thing. My "advice" would be to wait till people like V12 man or Talus respond.

Either way, good luck and I hope you are pain free and back on the bike asap.

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Do the MR, see whats going on.

 

I had the same issue, [could not power through the knee]

Sports doctor recommended surgery and seemed a bit trigger happy imo. I decided not to. 3 months off the bike, some physio, and a sloooowww ramp up on the km.

 

6 months later I can cycle again as before.

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Mailman as per our conversation, I had an athroscopy done in 1999.

 

In my case the "photo" clearly showed the issue at hand, and the MRI would have been worthless ... or rather, the MRI would have ruled out some item and I would still need to go under the knife to find the real answer.

 

 

Thus :

 

ONE - an arthroscopy is not a "big thing"

 

TWO - a MRI is certainly less invasive ....

 

 

What does your doc recommend ? 

 

Maybe do the MRI first, with the clear understanding that the arthroscopy can point out issues that the MRI wont ....

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Johns Hopkins medical collage did and othroscopy study - 50 surgeries and 50 keyholes no surgery, basically a fake othroscopy - both required same post op rest and rehab. Recovery was the same for both.

 

My knee doc told me this before doing one of my 3 othroscopy and clean ups - actually why I ride really. Cycling was rehab for surfing initially

Edited by Waynemol
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So, not really related but I’m going to ask anyway in the hope of someone having a sensible answer.

 

Had an MRI on my knee last night so that the specialist can try and identify why my knee is constantly in pain .

 

Whilst cycling to the clinic for the MRI, I managed to crash the bike and land on the affected knee. Ended up having to wash the mud off the knee in the disabled toilets before the scan and limping in for the MRI. Just wondering if that crash would have caused bruising or something that may have messed up the MRI?

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I have had a achy knee since JHB2c ,,went to all kinds of Docs .Seems that rest is the answer and physio .Doing all kinds of exercises with the resistance band.I can feel an improvement but I have drastically reduced my kilos.

 

Slow build up it seems.

 

Old age is not for sissies.

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My N=1 experience with this is:
2 years of various Physio attempts, Sports doctors etc ... no change in knee. My feeling through the whole experience was that the knee is really a pretty complex joint and it is very difficult even for the best-intentioned professionals to come up with a diagnosis without being able to see what is going on inside.

Eventually got an MRI and the knee specialist could not see anything of concern. He basically gave me the option of exploratory surgery (arthroscopy), after much persuading from me. I basically felt I had run out of road so to speak ... in the end, it turned out there was quite a lot of damage and clean up to do. They have a scale of 1 - 4 and mine was a 4 (worst case). The surgeon was quite surprised - I am just throwing this out there to highlight that a MRI scan may not always be 100% conclusive. 

I don't know how representative my experience was, but for me it was the arthroscopy was absolutely the right decision ... this is quite a few years back now and I have had zero knee related issues since. 

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HI

 

Just looking for some advice. Was knocked of my bike quite badly approx 8 weeks ago.

Two fingers broken etc. Anyway only lingering issue is my knee. SO I have two options it seams. One is to have the arthroscopy done and at the same time have fixed whatever is the problem. and two do the MRI 2.5 k co payment, but know exactly beforehand what awaits. I have major anxiety around the fact that i may not be able to drive for six weeks.

 

My other major gripe at the moment is I cannot stand and pedal. At the moment, physio suggested i lower my saddle on my trainer to increase knee range of motion.

 

Basically very confused at the moment .

 

Dr Graig Solomon at Gape gate medi clinic is the surgeon.

 

Any Advice welcome.

 

Regards

Paul

MRI first - you don't want to do surgery if you can avoid it - there are long term complications that could arise that it might avoid - and even via an arthroscope you might miss something the MRI could identify.

 

Doesn't mean you won't have surgery - just means you might not....

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MRI first - you don't want to do surgery if you can avoid it - there are long term complications that could arise that it might avoid - and even via an arthroscope you might miss something the MRI could identify.

 

Doesn't mean you won't have surgery - just means you might not....

 

Agree.

 

Although arthroscopy is a minimally invasive procedure, it still has its risks, and I've seen some cases with longer term complications with adhesions etc.

 

MRI will typically give a better indication of what's going on, and also inform (possible later) surgery better

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Thank you!!

MRI first - you don't want to do surgery if you can avoid it - there are long term complications that could arise that it might avoid - and even via an arthroscope you might miss something the MRI could identify.

 

Doesn't mean you won't have surgery - just means you might not....

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So, not really related but I’m going to ask anyway in the hope of someone having a sensible answer.

 

Had an MRI on my knee last night so that the specialist can try and identify why my knee is constantly in pain .

 

Whilst cycling to the clinic for the MRI, I managed to crash the bike and land on the affected knee. Ended up having to wash the mud off the knee in the disabled toilets before the scan and limping in for the MRI. Just wondering if that crash would have caused bruising or something that may have messed up the MRI?

no...the point of the mri is go get better images...more detail etc..

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I had an arthroscopy about four years following and ground meeting during the Magalies Monster.

I could clearly feel something wrong in my knee, and the doc "cleaned it up" as a previous comment said.

Discomfort for about six weeks on crutches and very idle movement.

I have since started MTB again for about two years now,  and it seems to hold up ok, although I do sometimes feel slight pain after hard exercise, but not close to what it was. It disappears after a short rest.

 Still following doc's orders - "as long as you don't fall on it again, you should be ok" :ph34r:

Just m2cw

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