In my case, the end of my femur (thigh bone) died a bit, and depending on the stage some pieces have either broken off or they're smashed up just hanging in there with the cartilage. The doctors aren't sure if the cartilage is in tact or damaged either. They can't really tell until they go in and look, but they think mine is stage 3. Here are the stages:
Stage I—Thickening of articular cartilage and low signal changes (stable)
|
Stage II—Articular cartilage breached, low-signal rim behind fragment indicating fibrous attachment (stable)
|
Stage III—Articular cartilage breached, high-signal changes behind fragment and underlying subchondral bone (unstable)
|
Stage IV—Loose body (unstable)
(from http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0101/p151.html)
|
Mine may have been caused from doing gymnastics for 8 years, track, cheerleading, or marching band since they are all high impact. My dad and brother also had it. Back when my dad had it, they casted his legs. For my brother, they drilled into his bone to restore the blood flow to the dead bone which is usually successful for teenagers. The doctors say mine probably started in late elementary school or middle school since that's when I remember my knees beginning to hurt.
 |
| An MRI of my left knee from the side. The arrow is pointing to the crack in the bone, and the fluid building up around it. |
 |
| MRI of my left leg. The top two parts are the bottom of my femur, and the bottom part is my tibia. This if the view of if you were to "slice the leg like a loaf of bread" in the middle/top part of me knee according to the doctor. The circled part is the damaged area. |
 |
| X-rays of both knees bent, from behind. This is my left knee compared to my right. the darker area on the left is the damaged part when compared to the healthier right knee. |
The other doctor (the one I'm going with) wants to clear out the dead bone, then replace it with a synthetic "plug" that will fit into the space he clears out. My healthy bone and cartilage around it will eventually take over the degradable plug and kind of eat it up, replacing it with healthy bone and cartilage. I can't find much online about it because I'm not sure of the exact name of the plug. I'm going with this procedure because they should only have to open my knee 1 time instead of what could be potentially 3 times. They also won't have to take part of my tibia out, which I think would hurt as much as the femur part.
So...that's the plan for what's happening during surgery tomorrow. I'm trying to just pray and relax, but I'm still quite a bit nervous. Hopefully it all goes well.
For more info about osteochondritis dissecans:
This website has a quick description of it (and the definition from above): http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166764.php
This one is from the Mayo Clinic and is more detailed:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/osteochondritis-dissecans/DS00741
And this one has current research about osteochondritis dissecans:
http://www.osteochondritisdissecans.org/
Hi Maria,
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog and cannot tell you how happy I am to have found someone who went through the same thing that I am about to undergo. The fact that you are also a woman makes me feel all the stronger. I am 25 years old, and was just diagnosed with osteochondrities dissecans in not one, but BOTH my knees. Needless to say there were instant tears in my eyes. I have not made the decision to perform surgery yet because I wanted to see what my options were. I have lived with this knee pain since 11, however, once I found out what i had it feels as though my knees have become all the weaker. I was wondering what made you decide to get surgery? Thank you in advance!
Katrina
Hey, Katrina! First of all, it's nice to meet you! The reason I started this blog was because nobody I knew had really heard of osteochondritis dissecans and I couldn't find much information of people who had gone through having it online. Second, I am so sorry to hear you have it, and that it's in both of your knees, and third, it will get better! I remember getting into my car and just crying and crying when I found out that I'd probably need surgery. It's a very frustrating situation and it just makes you feel so out of control. I had dealt with knee pain since I was probably 10-11, too, definitely by middle school, and everyone always thought it was just from being so active.
DeleteNot to scare you, but what made me finally decide to get surgery was that I went to stand up from sitting on the ground one day, and literally couldn't walk because it hurt so bad. I couldn't put weight on my left knee at all, and then after a day or two I could and it kept going back and forth. I couldn't do stairs at all after that point, either. The surgeon thinks the chunk of cartilage/bone that broke off was moving in and out from between my femur and tibia, and that's what was making the pain inconsistent. The sooner you can do something about having osteochondritis, the better. I know since we're 25, we're past the option of using crutches for 6 weeks while the bone heals itself because our growth plates are likely done growing already.
Do you happen to know what stage yours is in? If it's in the beginning, they can just drill into your bone to get the blood supply back. If it's in the further stages, they can do everything from pin the parts of the bone that came off back in to getting a cadaver bone plug (that's what they did to mine). Also, what region do you live in? I'm in Ohio, and my surgeon was phenomenal. I'd highly recommend him if you're anywhere close to here!
It's been a long, scary, frustrating process, but my left knee (the one I had surgery on) has started to feel so much better since the surgery. I'm not running or anything yet (and probably won't run for a while), but overall it's in less pain than it was before the surgery. My right one bothers me a lot because I have arthritis in it, but they said they wouldn't do surgery for it yet, maybe when I'm older.
But anyway, to answer your question, I got surgery because I could no longer walk on it, got an MRI, and found out that was pretty much my only option left. I don't recommend waiting until it gets to that point! If yours is in one of the earlier stages, the surgery might be less complicated. Make sure you research and find the best orthopedic doctor around you, too. I went to three before I decided on one because the surgeries that the first two mentioned just didn't sound right to me. Please let me know if I can answer any more of your questions!! I'd love to help you in any way that I can.
Take care,
Maria