Is it possible to re-injure a tendon after it is surgically repaired?

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shisslak

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Did your son already have his surgery? If not and you wanted a second opinion, I was going to suggest seeing Dr English at St Elizabeth's. She is the team orthopedic doctor for Boston College and she also does a bunch of the high schools in the area. She did surgery on my knee last year and I could not be happier with the results.
Good luck to your son--hockey is a tough sport. I am surprised that he was not told to wear a brace during practice and games.
 
Oh yes this is distinctly possible.

In fact it is also possible for the repair to fail and need re-doing.

I'm just a week following a tendon transfer and oseotomy 3 years after the first 'repair'.

Hopefully this one will work, it seems my repair had not really worked from day one and was clogged with adhesion's that attached the tendon to ligaments etc. So much so that there was no sense to be gotten from an MRI.

An expert opinion is what is needed - possibly more expert than your first surgeon I'm afraid - that is what me took most of the past 3 years to find.
 
3 years ago I ruptured my Brevis tendon while hiking. I had surgery to repair it. Things seemed to be going well. During the winter it aches some. Over the past 2 weeks it has been hurting quite a bit. I cant seem to get ahold of the surgeon. I think he may have retired. I took a look at it and it is super swollen and a wierd shade of blue. Under the ankle bone it is mushy like it is full of fluid. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. As of today it is making the top of my foot and my knee ache.

Thank you
Khrystyne
 
Hi Brenda,
Thanks for the recommendation, but he is 8 wks post-op. He is at a comparable university in Boston and saw the team orthopedic surgeon, plus 2 top foot and ankle OS from Brigham and Women's.There was no choice really because he basically had no tendon left. I asked every doctor about a brace and all said no, just the orthotic in all shoes and skates.I am considering getting him one anyway,at least for training. It will make ME feel better, if not him!
 
Hi I suspect Di might be right about a better surgeon but if a person wants the old one his name could be looked up on the internet and his location unless he actually did retire. I would also compare ratings with the old one and a new choice since I suppose with practice it is possible to improve or even the opposite. As a person ages a person might not think as well depending even on the condition of the surgeon himself and how well he treated his own health with health measures or the lack of it. This honestly gets difficult for some since sometimes if there is an accident and a repair in the night there is difficulty getting sleep properly according to sources I read years ago. I am not sure if this has changed very much or not. I guess if it were mine before I ran to the surgeon I would be doing a hot cold bucket or pour treatment although admittedly the tendons don't have much of a blood supply. I am sorry if I seem to be rarabling as usual a person can take what information they want or don't want and leave the rest.
 
My suggestion would be to make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, as soon as you can.
 
Hi,
My son's repair also failed after 10 months or at least, did not hold up to the demanRAB of his sporting activity (hockey).He had been cleared to play a couple of months before that, but it re-ruptured in his first game back. Do you mind my asking what was the nature of your failed surgery? My son had a primary end-to-end repair and has now had an FDL transfer with medial calcaneal osteotomy. He had no prior foot issues-the PTT was severed by a skate.
 
Sorry I'm DEFINITELY not an expert and my torn tendons were in my shoulder and they were surgically repaired, but I was told not only can I re-tear them but most likely will as they will never be as strong again. But seek a professional opinion a.s.a.p, the sooner you get it looked at the sooner you can treat the pain and possible injury.

Best of luck and hope you get good news.

Bella
 
Hi,
Yes it is very possible to re-injure a tendon after it's been surgically repaired. I had surgery on my posterior tibial tendon and peroneal brevis tendons in May 2007. In Septeraber 2007, I retore the peroneal tendon and had surgery on it in October 2007. All was finally going great when in the summer 2009, I turned my ankle & retore the peroneal tendon. Had 3rd surgery this past January. This time my doc repaired the tendon using a piece of another tendon to reinforce it and then secured it to my fibula and calcaneal bones usinig screws. Hopefully, this will be it. I would see a good doctor a.s.a.p. I used a podiatrist who was very experienced with ankle surgeries. I figured the feet and ankles are all he deals with so I was very comfortable with him. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
 
Do you mind my asking what was the nature of your failed surgery?

Reply to your enquiry:

I possibly had a weak tendon in any case [non weight bearing due to a broken other ankle may have been start of this issue], however I snapped my tendon falling off a 1" heel on a mule whilst dancing at the age of 48. It was broken in 3 areas. It took 6 months for this to be spotted, then an urgent repair/tendon tfr was scheduled but only the repair was actually undertaken. There was no real change from day one but the surgeon insisted that my ongoing problems were not due to failed surgery and sent me to a pain specialist instead.

I found out a repair alone is usually insufficient < edited >
as a result I tried to find a more competent and more approachable surgeon - at our first meeting he was scheduling surgery before any supporting tests as he could see immediately that my surgery had failed.

I had the first cast replacement/titches out today and the repair is clearly much more extensive now - the surgical incisions are long and located in several areas of my foot.

I feel quietly confident that I have now received the correct treatment and can look forward to a good result. Already it feels vastly better than this point after the first attempt.

Perhaps you sons surgeon could have advised him that hockey without additional orthotics/supports would not be possible. Certainly I have now been advised that I should not expect complete return to full function. I used to be a hill walker before, and cannot expect to be able to scale steep inclines again. Another piece of advice given to me is to expect the repair to take 18-24 months to get to full strength and to treat it with some protection/caution until that time has passed.
 
Hi di,
Thanks for your feedback. My son did have orthotics-3 pair:for workout shoes, regular shoes and of course skates-not to mention that the skates themselves are rigid and supportive. One of the surgeons we saw in Boston said that basically quote" end to end repair sucks". Hopefully things will go better this time. My son is only 18 (was 17 at the time of the first surgery) and it has been very hard on him (and me!). I wish you a speedy recovery!
 
Not really.I didn't push it because they all vetoed the suggestion immediatley and said that the orthotic was sufficient. They did say that customizing the skates in addition would be good. He usually does that anyway though. I am going to bring it up again at the next appointment. Keep in mind that most of the people on this board or who have this operation had PTTD and consequent loss of arch. My son did not lose his arch, even after the second rupture. Perhaps that had something to do with it...
 
My 18 yr old son had a primary (end to end) repair of a severed PTT last Deceraber. He was cleared to return to hockey at 7 months, but due to a setback during his training, returned at 10 months after extensive rehab.First shift of the first game, he everted his foot and felt a sharp pain. It completely re-tore and he had an FDL transfer with osteotomy last Thursday. The surgeon found a nearly necrotic tendon with copious scar tissue. He had had an MRI in July which was normal.So the answer, unfortunately is yes. One of the surgeons m son spoke to said that primary repair basically "sucks", so. if that is what you hd, I would be particularly suspicious.
 
Hi If I were the mom I suspect I would ask the son to suspend the skates at least until well healed. I would also skip the brace just for the purpose of normal movement so that the joints and other tissues don't freeze up just like frozen shoulder or something like that. A physical therapist once said we were made for movement. Skates and sports at this moment in life seem a bit like overdoing it in my opinion.
 
Who said anything about him skating before he is well healed? I am a mother, not a psychopath.
 
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