Tag Archives: dr patton

Sports Injury Analysis: Louisville Player Kevin Ware

 

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Did you see the Gruesome injury sustained by Kevin Ware? Pitino said “it was as bad as I’ve ever been.” Ware was taken to the Methodist Hospital, which is two miles away from the arena. He had surgery later Sunday night and will remain in Indianapolis for at least two days.

The open (compound) tibia fracture sustained by Ware is a serious injury with several possible short term and long term complications. Placing a rod into the bone to stabilize and realign it is the preferred method, if possible.  Infection is one of the main concerns given the fact that the bone broke through the skin. Open tibia fracture can potentially take months to heal. However, return to basketball is possible.

We will keep up with Kevin’s healing progress and we hope this young athlete has a full recovery and is quickly back on the court competing at a high level again soon.

Click her for complete article, Louisville’s Kevin Ware suffers gruesome broken leg by Jeff Goodman

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Injury Analysis: University of Alabama RB Jalston Fowler

 

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The recent injury to the knee of University of Alabama RB Jalston Fowler reminds us of how debilitating such injuries can be. Although no official report of the exact structures that have been damaged has been released, the video shows hyperextension of his knee which can damage major ligaments such as the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), side ligaments (collateral ligaments) or cause fractures to occur.

Seventy percent of non-contact injuries that result in swelling within one hour are ACL injuries. Furthermore, the C-shaped cartilages, called the menisci, can be torn during sporting injuries.

Treatment of knee injuries during football or other sports is most often treated arthroscopically– meaning via small incisions using a small camera to assist in visualizing the injured structures. Over 400,000 ACL reconstructions alone are done in the United States yearly.

According to R. Kavner’s article on collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com, Alabama coach Nick Saban announced Monday that running back Jalston Fowler will have surgery on his injured knee and is most likely going to be out for the season. Regaining muscle tone, control and joint range of motion is important if returning to sports is desired. This can take many months of hard work and dedication. AOC hopes Jalston has a good recovery and can return to the sport as soon as he is able.

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TEAM USA COMEBACK ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT: Katie Bell

During the countdown to the 2012 London Olympics AOC is going to spotlight some USA Team members who were able to recover from an injury and fulfill their dreams of making the team. At AOC we applaud and love it when an athlete has a real COMEBACK RECOVERY and PERFORMANCE and is able to return to their passion.

The Olympics have been Katie Bell’s goal since she was younger, but injuries almost derailed that dream. At the Big Ten championships in Minnesota her freshman year, she mistimed a dive. She punctured a lung, separated chest cartilage and popped ribs out of place, though the full extent of the injury took two years to diagnose. Bell continued to battle injuries. She suffered a torn labrum in her shoulder two years ago, possibly because she was overcompensating from the previous injury.

“At that point, I didn’t even know if I was going to keep diving or not,” Bell said. “When I decided to keep diving, I set my mind on going to the Olympics. I worked so hard every year.”

To overcome her sports injury she saw many doctors, athletic trainers and a psychologist to heal her body and mind to get back to competitive diving. Last month after years of surgery, rehabilitation and hard work, Katie had a stellar COMEBACK PERFORMANCE and reached her dream of making the US Olympic Diving Team.

Keep up with Katie in this year’s London Olympics.

You can follow her on twitter at @HippieBell and we will keep you updated on our blog and Facebook page.

(info via www.dispatch.com)

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ACL Injuries. What ESPN doesn’t tell you.

 

Knee injuries in sports are a common occurrence. One dreaded injury is a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Most ACL tears occur after a non-contact injury such as a wide receiver or soccer player making a sudden change in direction. The leg planted on the ground during the cutting move may experience enough force to tear the ACL. Seventy percent of acute hemarthosis (blood in the knee) after such injury is an ACL tear.

Non-surgical treatment for complete ACL tears in young, active patients has generally been met with less than satisfactory results. Loss of the ACL can result in instability or the feeling that the knee is loose. The knee wants to “give way” when a change in direction occurs.  This instability can result in further damage to the knee and the C-shaped cartilages called the meniscus. Rebuilding the ACL and restoring stability to the knee can protect the meniscus from further damage.

There are over 400,000 ACL reconstructions a year in the United States. Much research has occurred and is on-going into different techniques and choices of tissue to use to rebuild the damaged ACL. Two of the more common tissue (graft) choices are hamstrings and patellar tendon.  Both are usually taken (harvested) from the same knee and used in the reconstruction process. Other options include quadriceps tendon and tissue that has been donated to tissue banks (allografts). There are pros and cons to each graft choice, but analysis of multiple recent studies show little difference in long term outcomes between hamstring and patellar tendon autograft (tissue taken from the same patient.)

In part two of “ACL Injuries in Sports” we shall discuss current data on the return to sports after ACL reconstruction.

 

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