Quad (Rectus Femoris) Tendon Tear

Bigger Stronger Leaner Injuries and Rehab
1

I dislocated my knee 6 days ago (doing karate), the ultrascan results showed “no quad tendon tear, high suspicion medial retinaculum tear”.
As the patella ended up on the lateral side of the leg I can understand that the medial side would be torn.

However today (6 days later), I saw the consultant.
There was no pain in the quads nor any visible hole/lump but as I can’t lift my leg up whilst lying. He believes that the rectus femoris tendon is torn.
(I can lift the leg up a little when the leg is slightly flexed).

He said we could wait to see if it does get better but he would rather do an exploratory op (arthoscopy) and if there is a problem re-attach otherwise the longer it’s left scar tissue will build-up.

Then he said it’s several weeks in a full cast - I don’t know what’s after that…but doing a google it looks like at least 6 months before full recovery.

I’ve had tendinitis in the quad tendon on and off for a while now (so maybe it was an accident waiting to happen).

The op might be for the best, but I’d rather not go down that route unless I have to.

Has anyone here had anything similar? Could the muscle/tendon still be sore from the dislocation as it’s less than a week? Could the nerve be inactive due to the swelling in the knee (ok I’m clutching at straws!)
Or as it’s ‘inactive’ (my words not his) does that mean it’s a definite tear? (Odd that the scan didn’t show anything wrong with the quad).

Any advise would be appreciated as I see I’m going down a long road to recovery…

2

Several weeks in a full cast? I could see putting you in a Straight Leg Immobilizer for the beginning of the recovery period, but not a cast. And as a technical correction, you did not dislocate your knee, you dislocated your patella.

If you are that uncertain of getting the surgery and would prefer otherwise, I’d recommend getting a second opinion from another doctor. Any internet diagnosis for this situation would be misguided since a lot of your decision needs to come from an in person physical evaluation.

3

thanks LevelHeaded. He did explicitly say a plaster cast - but I take your point looking at various websites an immobilizer seems the norm.
The arthroscopy (and potential fix) is on Friday, so it’s too late to get a 2nd opinion.
He is a knee specialist so I have to trust his judgement…