A young Russian woman goes to see a world-class surgeon at a clinic (AK) in Munich to have a second opinion on a possible torn medial meniscus due to medial compartment pain when climbing stairs. The local Orthopeadic and Radiologist report nothing found wrong in the knee, Xrays or MRI's. But, she has been bed-ridden 6 months due to two endoscopic spine surgeries and can not sit or stand 10 minutes. The spine surgery was done at the same clinic (AK) 3 months earlier. After that last spine surgery she could not bend her knees beyond 90 degrees due to something catching. She had been scheduled to have an Artificial Disc Replacement at the same clinic (AK), and had been very concerned that her knee problems would get worse and that she would not be able to walk for rehabilitation after the ADR surgery. As the video illustrates, she was VERY healthy before transferring to Germany for her parent company Texas Instruments. She had never had a knee problem - or any problem. She had only suffered a minor disc herniation in the moving process, but not bad enough to keep her from working 5 months in Germany.
She decides to get a second opinion and makes 4 painful trips to the AK to see a world-class knee specialist. But, she never gets to see the Knee Surgeon, as he is constantly in surgery. She only sees the surgeon's assistant, who says she needs a lateral release on BOTH knees, along with the suggest medial meniscus check. He knows the full course of the spine surgeries and the weakness thereafter. MRI's are taken of BOTH knees, and they look exactly the same in terms of the retro-patellar cartilage. Soon after, a letter is received from the AK stating that an arthroscopic check of the meniscus is URGENT. No mention is ever made in any of the letters or emails about any shaving chondroplasty procedure on the patella. She is told in an email from the surgeon that the medial meniscus problem is relatively minor, and she should expect to be on her feet in 2 weeks, and that the knee surgery should therefore be done BEFORE the Artificial Disc Replace in the L4/5 spine.
After the surgery, she wakes up with a medial meniscus thermal ablation & synovectomy, a lateral release (cut ligament) and a 'Shaving Chondroplasty' of the patella. It is found that this shaving procedure is ONLY done when the patella shows Grade II/III chondromalacia, per the surgeon's own profuse literature on the subject, and every other reference found. The surgeon writes that you should see fronds and filaments hanging loose - not a clean, white, smooth cartilage as is clearly evident in the arthroscopic video. The patient will later learn that 99% of all patello-femoral problems can be corrected by simple strengthening of the Vastus Medialis Obliquus (VMO quads) muscles. These muscles hold the patella stable and in its groove. This explains why he knees were both locking at 90 degrees. The patellae were mal-tracking. Sadly, the clinic has a large rehab facility across the street, but they did not recommend that she visit it - (except after the surgery). A lateral releases is found to require a VERY long rehabilitation, and should be done as a last resort on provably congenitally tilted patella. It is absurd to cut a ligament rather than simply strengthening the apposing muscles - especially when the patient is obviously severely weak.
The literature further states that 50% of people over 30 show signs of Chondromalacia, and 100% of people over 60 years of age. It is also found, that the Knee Surgeon is in a battle with other Orthopaedic surgeons with respect to this shaving chondroplasty procedure. The Surgeon repeatedly extols that he has irrefutable evidence that Shaving Chondroplasty on Grade II/III Chondromalacia can save a person from a Total Knee Replacement. The surgeon also repeatedly states that, after such a Shaving Chondroplasty, that it is critical to keep weight off the knee for a minimum 8 weeks - in order to allow the blood clot to stick and induce fibrocarilage generation. The rehab instructions she received, signed by the Surgeon, state that she need only keep weight off for 2 weeks.
Two years later, the young woman's kneecap is still inflamed, she can not put any weight on the left knee, and her left quads have atrophied to near nothing. She is, for all intensive purposes, crippled for life.
If you are a surgeon and you would like to make a statement of objection to such experimentation on healthy subjects, or would like a link to our extensive research on the subject, please send an email to dogmattic (at) hotmail dot com.
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