Allison Fersko | ACL Injury | Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
West Orange, NJ
My first injury and surgery on my left knee was in 2003 for ACL, MCL and meniscus reconstruction. From there I had several subsequent surgeries in 2004, 2008, and 2014. In March, 2014, I hurt my left knee again skiing. I instantly knew what I did, tearing your ACL is, unfortunately, a feeling you never really forget! Dr. Williams performed an ACL revision in October 22, 2014. I was diligent about my Physical Therapy, performing my exercises, and using the bike daily, but I was still experiencing a significant amount of pain and was not progressing as smoothly as I felt I should have been. Dr. Williams noticed the hypersensitivity and significant pain I was having, and referred me to Dr. Kramskiy; he believed that this was all due to a pain syndrome. Dr. Kramskiy diagnosed me with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, now referred to as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). He also attributed some of my pain to a compressed nerve. Over a five month period I had three sympathetic blocks and three saphenous nerve blocks. At the end of May, 2015, Dr. Williams and Dr. Kramskiy decompressed the Saphenous Nerve and performed a neurocryoablation. I resumed Physical Therapy after the surgery and was much more successful at building strength and returning to my active lifestyle without the interference of constant pain.
As of September 1, 2015 I completed Physical Therapy- it was 536 days after my initial injury, 3 surgeries, 6 procedures, and 18 months of PT. Thanks to Dr. Williams and Dr. Kramskiy, I have been able to return to hiking, camping, swimming, biking and am looking forward to returning to skiing this winter.