BIG WARNING for Malceski

[Bas]

A big warning for Nic and I think a sober reality hit for all Swans supporters that once you have knee problems they are never very far away.

In tonights Port game, tragedy strikes David Rodan again. The poor bloke looks like he has done is right knee again in the 3rd quarter of tonight's game.

He was running done the boundary whilst being chased and was tackled. From the numerous replays. it did not appear that his knee twisted or distorted in anyway.

He just fell over and grabbed the side of his knee and then it appears that the pain intensified. He was helped off the field by two trainers and taken straight down the race.

He did the right knee originally in 2005 and had that repaired by the conventional method.

Then in 2009 he did the left knee and had LARS surgery. It was the left knee that went again last year that had the LARS surgery for a second time.

This time it is his right knee and Richo was reporting that the Club was hoping that it wasn't an ACL. That was the report prior to 3/4 time.

Hopefully for his sake it's not an ACL. In the past some people say that if the pain is intense that it is a medial but tell that to Dunstall when he was carried off in that QF at the SCG with his ACL in 1996. Others like Paul Kelly or Craig O'Brien were still running around on theirs after doing their ACL.

The "Ripley's Believe it or Not" moment was that Bruce Mc was actually talking about his 2 LARS operations just as he fell over.

I've followed Rodan's career since his 6 goals in the TAC Grand Final in 2001 and he has been a really good story. He was having a great game tonight as well.

Just aside, how is Matthew Nicks the Port Adelaide runner?

[annew]

I would say that Mal would be glad it wasn't the knee he had the Lars surgery on.

[BSA5]

I would say that Mal would be glad it wasn't the knee he had the Lars surgery on.

This.

Could Rodan become the first player to have two LARS knees? Obviously his knees aren't great in general, but there is no evidence that LARS knees are any weaker than conventional reconstructions, at least in the short-mid term (which is what matters in terms of a footy career). Might as well take the option that gets him on the park sooner. With LARS surgery, he'll probably be back well before the end of the year!

[Matt79]

With all respect Bas. How can it be a warning for Malceski when this is his right knee which was last done with the conventional method of repair and not LARS?

[aardvark]

Might be time for Rodan to give it away before he spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair. You only get one chance with Knee replacements.

[Bas]

With all respect Bas. How can it be a warning for Malceski when this is his right knee which was last done with the conventional method of repair and not LARS?

I couldn't think of a better a title to a certain degree. The point I was trying to make was that we should all enjoy his comeback and be prepared that once a player is prone to knee injuries of the ACL type that there is more possibility of it happening again as compared to it not happening.

I'd made up the title before I did all the research on Rodan so once the title was done I couldn't change it. End of a long week - too much HOF posting for me this week.

[Bas]

Rodan set to miss a month - AFL.com.au

Saying this morning that it may be cartilage rather than ACL and hopefully only a month.

I disagree with the article though in terms of the knee twisting. If there was a twist it was a very small twist. Certainly no Chubby Checker move. Who??????

[ScottH]

With all respect Bas. How can it be a warning for Malceski when this is his right knee which was last done with the conventional method of repair and not LARS?

And it was already uinstable.

[goswannies]

Firstly. FACT: Rodan had medial & lateral menisectomies, NOT a torn ACL.

Secondly. You get more than one chance with knee replacements. They last 10-20 years (some less, a few more). If you have a TKR at 50, you will have at least one revision before you reach the average life expectancy of both males and females.

The "intense" pain can be a partial ACL tear (as some nociceptive pain fibers remain intact), collateral ligament injury, meniscal tears (as this can cause locking which is what occurred with Rodan), loose body impingement (which is also what occurred (this might have longer term repercussions if it involves damage to chondral cartilage).

There is a roughly 20% chance of a autogous (natural) graft re-rupturing but the recovery time is 9-12 months instead of 3-4.

ScottH's post above is correct re the original right ACL being an autologous graft (although the knee was relatively stable).

Statistically speaking, because Nick (& David for that matter) are back so quickly with the LARS recons, they may, in fact have a less chance in theory of re-rupturing as the have less muscular atrophy (hence more dynamic knee stability) and probably less proprioceptive loss. That is not to say that they are not going to re-injure... but a lot of that has to do with their style of game, rather than the LARS recon.

As long as the chondral cartilage of the tibia and femur are in good condition and ghat the meniscii are as preserved as possible (and the more you re-injure, the less likely this is... but the surgeons & physios advise the players of this) then recovery should be good.

As for LARS grafts not being weaker than autologous grafts, it depends on how they are used. The original intention was to use the graft to augment a repair of an acutely torn ACL. In the instances of it's current use, it is often used to replace the torn ACL. In this instance the mid substance strength is initially stronger. It doesn't de-vascularize like an autologous graft. But it is only held into the bone tunnels by fixation (eg in contrast to a patella tendon graft that allows for bone/bone fixation - thus the fixation points are theoretically weaker). There is no ligamentization of the LARS graft (it is the ligamentization that give autologous grafts their tensile strength... after 9-12 months (although it doesn't fully recover until over 2 years... it's "good to go" by 9-12 months, however).

Bottom line, Nick has NOTHING to worry about from Rodan's injury. Nick might have to worry if his knees already have degeneration, but his surgeon has to talk to him about that. David's surgeon has to similarly discuss the condition of his chondral & meniscal cartilage condition with him as the degenerative changes on x-ray/MRI etc commence before the symptoms do.

[satchmopugdog]

I don't know..people who post with no knowledge of the topic at all......get informed will you Goswannies

Actually..thanks for all that info

[goswannies]

Just aside, how is Matthew Nicks the Port Adelaide runner?

Matthew was recruited from West Adelaide, SA. He trained as a stockbroker in Syndey when he retired (or just before). After working in Sydney for a while (and I seem to crecall he also had some sort or airplane venture with Heath James in Sydney) Nicksy returned home to Adelaide a couple of years ago to take up a job at Ord Minnett Stockbrokers and Financial Advisors. He got back involved with football coaching Scotch College (Adelaide) 1st XVIII and I think was a development coach at Glenlg at some stage. Inevitable that one of the Adelaide teams would want the experience and expertise of someone involved with a player from a successful era in some capacity.
I understand he then quit stockbroking to take up a role as development coach at Port and I guess he remains young enough and fit enough to fill the role as a runner on match days.

[RogueSwan]

[QUOTE=Bas;527325... I disagree with the article though in terms of the knee twisting. If there was a twist it was a very small twist. ...[/QUOTE]

I watched the replay closely and still couldn't notive any unusual action that would have caused such grief.