Surgery

Why might I need surgery?

Surgery may be indicated (needed) only after conservative methods have been properly tried first. There are a number of reasons why initial attempts to rehabilitate the knee are unsuccessful:

• Not enough strength training.
• Doing too much too soon.
• Having the wrong loads during strength training - this can include being too light as well as too heavy.
• Strength training does not continue after returning to sports specific training.

Will it work and how long will I be out of training for?

• The success rate of this operation is estimated to be about 60-80%.
• You may not ever return to the level of sport you had before the operation - many do though.
• It could take 6 to 12 months to return to competition after surgery.

What will the surgeon do?

• Surgeons differ in their approach to this injury.
• Some prefer a longitudinal cut into the tendon and some prefer a transverse one.
• They may take out the abnormal tissue.
• Some will do the operation by arthroscopy (keyhole surgery) and others may prefer open surgery.