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Eighteen months ago, I had the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of my right knee repaired. The operation was done by removing a piece of tendon from my kneecap and using it to replace the torn ACL. Since that time, I’ve developed knee pain and a neuroma. What causes this?

A neuroma is a benign tumor made up of nerve cells. Benign means it's not cancerous and not dangerous. It can be, however, quite painful. The most common cause of this type of neuroma is direct injury to the nerve.

When the tendon was harvested from your knee, the nerve was most likely cut. This is a common problem with this operation. Knee pain prevents the patient from kneeling or moving around on the knees. Once it happens, there isn't much that can be done. Prevention is now possible with an alternate method of operation. This uses the tendon from behind the knee instead of the front.

Reference: 

Lars Ejerhed, MD, et al. Patellar Tendon or Semitendinosus Tendon Autografts for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction? In The American Journal of Sports Medicine. January/February 2003. Vol. 31. No. 1. Pp. 19-25.

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