OH now wash he knee and took dressing off to replace with new clean ones and WOW noticed the surgeon must had tried several entry points has several open wounds
Your husband had arthroscopic surgery. It requires multiple small incisions (usually three) since the surgeon uses one for the surgery itself, another for the tiny camera or scope he uses to see what he’s doing, and a third to allow for a tool to irrigate the area as he works. The surgeon needed to make multiple incisions. It wasn’t that he “tried” several entry points. What you describe is normal for arthroscopy, so don't let it worry you.
WFD's description of the procedure is excellent, although he's right that each case is somewhat unique depending on how extensive the adhesions are and where they are located. It can be quite tricky to deal with them.
If your husband still has a lot of scar tissue (adhesions), an open lysis of those adhesions is a treatment option. It is not always successful, but it can be. It involves opening up the knee and cutting the scar tissue away to free up the normal tissue. Since his hardware is okay, it would not be replaced. However, this condition and treatment need to be done by a surgeon who specializes in dealing with adhesions. The surgical techniques and rehab afterwards are critical to ensuring that the scar tissue does not return. I strongly recommend that you seek an additional opinion of a specialist at one of the larger Centers of Excellence. I’m going to tag my co-admin,
@Jaycey, who possibly can help direct you to a specific surgeon. I know some GPs make it sound like a difficult process to get appointments with another surgeon, but you are entitled to see whatever surgeon you like. You may have to be a bit forceful to get the referral from your GP, but you don’t have to justify anything other than that you want to see a different doctor to get another opinion. NHS allows for this.
If you choose not to seek the opinion of another surgeon and stay with this doctor, I recommend that you talk with him about the recovery process. With knee adhesions, aggressive therapy is normally not a good plan. Better results can usually be obtained with a more gentle approach of bending and stretching exercises several times a day for several weeks. The reason for this is that adhesions occur when tissues are inflamed, hot, and dry. When this occurs (as when you work your knee really hard), the soft tissues that would normally be moist and glide across one another, are hot and dry. They stick together in places where they should not and tough bands of tissue (adhesions) form that tie them together, restrict movement, and cause pain. This is what has happened following your husband’s first surgery that caused the adhesions. You want to keep the knee swelling and inflammation minimized to prevent this….particularly in the first few weeks and months of recovery.
Also, tell your surgeon you’d like to have him use the
Geko device immediately after surgery or purchase it directly from the link I gave you. Your GP can help you learn how to properly place it on the leg....it's not that hard, but you do need to know the proper spot in order for it to work. It’s a small electronic impulse device that looks kind of like a watch. It adheres to the leg near the incision. It is used in the UK after joint replacement surgery to minimize swelling. It works and can make a huge difference in the success of a recovery as the electrical stimulation of the peroneal nerve greatly increases circulation throughout the body. The Geko treatment involves 10 days of wearing this device right after surgery.
All the best to you as you face this new challenge.