What are the complications of surgery?

What are the complications of surgery?

• Infection. Infection is rare, but still a risk with any type of surgery.
• Stiffness. Stiffness in the knee is common post-surgery, but physical therapy can help it. This can be avoided by performing rehabilitation to regain all of your motion before surgery.
• Viral transmission. Receiving a graft from a cadaver always comes with a risk of contracting diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C. There is less than a one in a million chance that you’ll get an HIV-infected graft.
• Blood clot. A blood clot can be life-threatening, but it’s rare. The clot can break off in the bloodstream and cause a pulmonary embolism in the lungs or a stroke in the brain.
• Kneecap pain. This complication is common when using patellar tendon grafts.
• Growth plate injury. Early ACL reconstruction in a child or adolescent risks this. If possible, the surgeon will delay the procedure until the skeleton is fully grown or utilize special techniques to avoid injuring the growth plate.