Parents OCD of the Knee - any success stories out there?

[enicholas]

Hello!
My 10 year old daughter just finished level 7 and is training for level 8. She has been working through knee pain for a little while now. We finally got her in to see ortho. She had an x-ray followed up by an MRI that confirmed OCD of the right femur. Doc gave us two choices: 1. crutches for 6 weeks, followed by brace for 6 weeks and then if she is pain free a slow return to activity or 2. surgery followed by crutches for 6 weeks and a brace for 6 weeks (same recovery time). If the wait and see approach doesn't work we would be back at square one: surgery and another 6 weeks each of crutches and brace. Wait and see has a 60-70% chance of working. Surgery has 85-90% chance of working (according to doc). That seems like a big difference to me. We are currently in a holding pattern/weighing our options.
My question is has anyone else out there been through this? Did you ever come out the other side? This seems like a long road ahead. Thank you in advance!

 

[B&M's mom]

Been through it with both knees. Tried the conservative approach but didn't heal so ended up having surgery for both lesions. One was much worse than the other and they did not happen at the same time. So my DD spent a lot of time on crutches. Due to a rare complication, she ended up leaving the sport and is now very happily diving. Kids do come back from it but there can be issues.

 

[enicholas]

Been through it with both knees. Tried the conservative approach but didn't heal so ended up having surgery for both lesions. One was much worse than the other and they did not happen at the same time. So my DD spent a lot of time on crutches. Due to a rare complication, she ended up leaving the sport and is now very happily diving. Kids do come back from it but there can be issues.

Thanks for your response. Sorry to hear about the complication! My daughter is beyond frustrated already, but it could always be worse
I have to say that I haven't heard of many people having success with the wait and see route. I don't want to prolong things, but surgery doesn't sound too attractive either. There's no easy answer here.

 

[LLmom]

I find that wait and see is closer to about 50-50, but a lot of people want to avoid surgery (maybe bc these are usually younger kids??). Usually by 6 weeks you can tell if any improvement is happening. If it is, then I usually keep going with the brace, etc. If it's not, I offer a surgeon. And in my practice, they can do full bars into the pit while "serving their time" on crutches. I find that most girls need the work on bars anyway, so this is a useful way to get better while waiting. Some surgeons will allow this as well, but some will wait the full 6 weeks after surgery to return to bars.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

My 16 yr old level 10 son is currently recovering from ocd but in his right elbow. Diagnosed in Feb, we were told that this type of injury has a very low success rate of recovering with no form of surgery. After 3 weeks of non use, no progress was made and he had a long but successful surgery in early March. It was more involved than they saw on mri, and he did end up with two pins placed into his elbow.

We are now 6 weeks post op, he's been in physical therapy for 4 weeks. I'm happy to report that he is healing, they are seeing bone growth and he has almost complete recovery of his range of motion. (He is a very diligent patient and has been doing all of his pt assignments. He is also maintaining his core strength as well as he can. In fact, his pt commented that it's refreshing to have a patient who is so motivated to put in the work to gain recovery. Of course, that's a gymnast for you...not afraid to work!)

He is allowed now to start some swimming, but he is still completely non weight bearing until his next check up in 6 weeks. We were told it's a lengthy recovery, but he's doing everything he can to come back to his sport. He's hoping to be able to be weight bearing by summer work outs.

So, just some insight, and I hope your gymmie has a successful recovery! I do think she's better off with it in her knee than my ds in his elbow. At least she's able to work upper body. My ds really can't do much of anything in the gym right now.

 

[enicholas]

I find that wait and see is closer to about 50-50, but a lot of people want to avoid surgery (maybe bc these are usually younger kids??). Usually by 6 weeks you can tell if any improvement is happening. If it is, then I usually keep going with the brace, etc. If it's not, I offer a surgeon. And in my practice, they can do full bars into the pit while "serving their time" on crutches. I find that most girls need the work on bars anyway, so this is a useful way to get better while waiting. Some surgeons will allow this as well, but some will wait the full 6 weeks after surgery to return to bars.

Thanks for your response! We are currently one week on crutches and my daughter is already climbing the walls! The doc wont let her do dismounts into the pit yet. I got a second opinion and both doctors agree because of her young age (growth plates wide open?) and staging of the injury (stage 1) that we should try the wait and see approach, I am really hoping we see some progress at 6 weeks. She doesn't have a brace yet so I think I am going to ask for one this week. She has already stumbled and put weight onto that knee quite a few times. Ugh. I am going to keep repeating the serenity prayer. LOL.

 

[enicholas]

My 16 yr old level 10 son is currently recovering from ocd but in his right elbow. Diagnosed in Feb, we were told that this type of injury has a very low success rate of recovering with no form of surgery. After 3 weeks of non use, no progress was made and he had a long but successful surgery in early March. It was more involved than they saw on mri, and he did end up with two pins placed into his elbow.

We are now 6 weeks post op, he's been in physical therapy for 4 weeks. I'm happy to report that he is healing, they are seeing bone growth and he has almost complete recovery of his range of motion. (He is a very diligent patient and has been doing all of his pt assignments. He is also maintaining his core strength as well as he can. In fact, his pt commented that it's refreshing to have a patient who is so motivated to put in the work to gain recovery. Of course, that's a gymnast for you...not afraid to work!)

He is allowed now to start some swimming, but he is still completely non weight bearing until his next check up in 6 weeks. We were told it's a lengthy recovery, but he's doing everything he can to come back to his sport. He's hoping to be able to be weight bearing by summer work outs.

So, just some insight, and I hope your gymmie has a successful recovery! I do think she's better off with it in her knee than my ds in his elbow. At least she's able to work upper body. My ds really can't do much of anything in the gym right now.

Sounds like a very long road. I am happy to hear that your son is finally seeing some great progress Oh how I wish I had a crystal ball on this one! I really don't want to wait six weeks and then find out she needs surgery it seems because she is so young (10 years) and her bones are still growing that the wait and see approach is the popular first course of action. I am crossing all of my fingers and toes that my daughter heals quickly and that your son continues forward with his recovery!

 

[Pea'sMom]

My 13 year old is also currently recovering from ocd of her right elbow (ironically she's a lefty?) She was diagnosed in Jan after a minor fall left her elbow unable to fully extend and was 'clicking'. Surgery was necessary as some cartilage had broken off. She needed two screws in to attach the cartilage back in place, which will need to come out adding another month to recovery. She's 10+ weeks post op and it's healing, but on the slower side. Dr is anticipating that she will need the full 6 months to recover. Dr is very conservative (his words) and she wasn't allowed any use of her arm until 10 weeks, with the exception of range of motion stretching. She is now cleared for pt, and started back at the gym part time, just for legs and abs, and to stay connected with her team. Wishing your DD a speedy recovery!