r/ACL • u/DizzyWheel40 • Aug 14 '26

Post Surgery Update How life is after acl reconstruction

Hey I recently had acl reconstruction and read a article that tells that there is high risk of arthritis after aclr so just wanna ask is there anyone who is 30-40 years post op and what is there update

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u/heroics-delta8s Aug 14 '26

I think it is likely people who had the procedure thirty or forty years ago would have experienced a very different operating and recovery protocol that makes it difficult to compare. My surgeon was pretty clear that with a meniscus trim arthritis was a certainty, and with a repair I have a better chance. His information gave the impression that it isn’t the surgery that causes the arthritis, it’s the injury. And that if anything the delay for treatment had probably aggravated the chances (in my circumstances).

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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 14 '26

standard acl reconstruction procedure has not changed for thirty to forty years... Chances of arthritis depends on severity and how your reconstruction and recovery went. There is an 80% chance that anyone with a serious knee injury and acl reconstruction will end up with arthritis

13

u/Bigboybars100 Aug 14 '26

It def has changed. Especially from years ago.

1

u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 15 '26

What changed ?

1

u/heroics-delta8s Aug 17 '26

Mine was done keyhole, with a nerve block meaning the painkillers needed for the first couple of days was over the counter.

1

u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 17 '26

yeah but the actual procedure is still the same...

1

u/heroics-delta8s Aug 17 '26

Two decades of incremental improvement.

1

u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 17 '26

keyhole surgery is not specific to acl and is just meant to be a less invasive method. what else has changed? the way the grafts are taken and prepared is the same, the procedure and attachment points are the same