Bridge-Enhanced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair (BEAR)
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Angelina Dougherty
College:
The College of Health Professions and Human Services
Major:
Athletic Training
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Raymond Divirgilio
Abstract:
A seventeen-year-old male high school football athlete suffered a right knee anterior crucial ligament rupture during a non-contact football practice. During the initial evaluation, the athlete complained of pain in his knee after running a play and applying a valgus and external rotation to the knee and had no previous history of issues with that knee. The athlete had a positive anterior drawer and was referred to the physician, where he was cleared for play with a hinge brace. In the following competition, the athlete felt a sharp pain in the second half of the game that eventually subsided, and he continued. He then tried to make a sharp break during the game and the athlete states he felt as though his knee shifted out and went back into place and had intense pain but could walk off the field. He was immediately taken out of the game and referred for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Surgeon wanted to go with the BEAR Implant due to its significantly better hamstring strength two years postoperatively. As well as its ability to restore your ACL to its original anatomical location, enabling your knee joint to feel “normal” and to function more naturally. There are still complications that may arrive where the BEAR Implant may not be fitting for that patient's case.The BEAR Implant is having great success and becoming more of a route surgeons take for ACL surgery. However, it still needed to be looked upon as to how severe each case may be to make the right call for the athlete's wellbeing.