I shared this post in another forum.
Last season, one of my worst fears as a parent of a college athlete was realized as I watched my daughter land oddly after jumping to secure a soccer ball and collapse to the ground. She was diagnosed as sustaining a torn ACL and sprained MCL that required surgery. While her school helped arrange a quick surgical consult with a local surgeon for standard ACL surgery, my wife performed her own research and came across a new surgical procedure that neither the surgeon, the school's training staff or athletic department had any familiarity. The procedure is called Bridge Enhanced ACL Repair or BEAR and in simple terms allows the ends of the torn tendon re-grow together with the help of an absorbable collagen implant. Unlike standard ACL re-construction, the procedure does not require a hamstring graft or graft from a cadaver. The recovery time is similar to that of standard ACL re-construction but does require that the patient remain in a brace for a few weeks longer than the normal procedure. Preliminary studies suggest that the BEAR procedure will lead to less osteo-arthritis in the knee. It looks like the BEAR procedure may be the future of ACL repair. My daughter elected to have the BEAR procedure in November and is well on her way to full recovery and playing for her team in August.
Since most parents and physicians we have spoken to have had no knowledge of this procedure, I felt it important to share with a community of people that care about college sports and student athletes. Attached are some preliminary studies regarding the procedure.
The Bridge-Enhanced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair (BEAR) Procedure: An Early Feasibility Cohort Study - PubMed (nih.gov)
Bridge-Enhanced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair: Two-Year Results of a First-in-Human Study - PubMed (nih.gov)
Last season, one of my worst fears as a parent of a college athlete was realized as I watched my daughter land oddly after jumping to secure a soccer ball and collapse to the ground. She was diagnosed as sustaining a torn ACL and sprained MCL that required surgery. While her school helped arrange a quick surgical consult with a local surgeon for standard ACL surgery, my wife performed her own research and came across a new surgical procedure that neither the surgeon, the school's training staff or athletic department had any familiarity. The procedure is called Bridge Enhanced ACL Repair or BEAR and in simple terms allows the ends of the torn tendon re-grow together with the help of an absorbable collagen implant. Unlike standard ACL re-construction, the procedure does not require a hamstring graft or graft from a cadaver. The recovery time is similar to that of standard ACL re-construction but does require that the patient remain in a brace for a few weeks longer than the normal procedure. Preliminary studies suggest that the BEAR procedure will lead to less osteo-arthritis in the knee. It looks like the BEAR procedure may be the future of ACL repair. My daughter elected to have the BEAR procedure in November and is well on her way to full recovery and playing for her team in August.
Since most parents and physicians we have spoken to have had no knowledge of this procedure, I felt it important to share with a community of people that care about college sports and student athletes. Attached are some preliminary studies regarding the procedure.
The Bridge-Enhanced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair (BEAR) Procedure: An Early Feasibility Cohort Study - PubMed (nih.gov)
Bridge-Enhanced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair: Two-Year Results of a First-in-Human Study - PubMed (nih.gov)