I had an arthroscopy surgery, BUT...

[kyle_atreides]

I had an arthroscopy surgery on my left knee around 10 months ago because of tearing of the medial and lateral ligament (I fell while playing basketball). I did the surgery 3 years after I fell. The recovery went well, however the swelling and scarring on my left knee is still there, my left knee is still bigger than my right. A few months ago, when I was doing physical activity (dancing), suddenly my knee popped again, though slightly. And now my knee swells bigger than before, and sometimes pops slightly when I'm not careful (maybe a total of 3 times since the operation), though it's not painful. Does this mean the ligament teared again? How could this happen, while I did the post-op training to strengthen the supporting muscles? Is this condition untreatable? Can my knee comes back to normal so I can run again?

[Maria RN]

Hi. I've read that the treatment outcome depends on the degree of damage on the affected structures. Here are links about knee arthroscopy:

http://www.hopkinsortho.org/knee_arthroscopy.html
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00299

Weakened knee joint is a possible complication of knee arthroscopy. I strongly recommend that you consult your doctor to find out if your physical activities contribute to the swelling or whether your symptoms are caused by problems.