I had ACL reconstruction and meniscus repair knee ...

I had ACL reconstruction and meniscus repair knee surgery with a knee specialist at the Steadman Clinic a year ago. They give people a "nerve block" to numb the leg with local anesthetic for the surgery and for three days after the surgery so you don't feel any pain. It sounds great, but they didn't mention that local anesthetic is toxic if it gets into your bloodstream! Unfortunately enough of it got into my blood to nearly kill me. It would be better if they only left the nerve block in for only one day after surgery to avoid this risk. Hopefully they have made this change by now.
An MRI one year after surgery shows my knee cap cartilage is badly torn up (it was not at all torn before surgery) which causes pain after activity. My reconstructed ACL is much much looser than in my other knee and possibly torn (Lachman's Test with hamstring relaxed). I had no major accident during the past year after surgery. The knee cap cartilage was torn up because it was very difficult to bend my knee for many months after surgery. Regaining full range of motion within a few weeks of surgery is important to avoid this problem. ACL reconstruction results in many "side effects" such as osteoarthritis and a weakened quadriceps muscle in addition to the fact that the graft may fail. If you have a torn ACL it is worth exploring the non-surgical option before jumping into surgery.