UCLA researchers team up with robot for solutions to debilitating knee injuries
“Why do you need such a big robot?”
Bioengineering researcher Keith Markolf frequently gets this question when colleagues visiting from around the world first lay eyes on the 8-foot-tall, pumpkin-orange behemoth dominating the UCLA Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory at UCLA’s Rehabilitation Center. The industrial robot, diverted from a thankless job in an auto assembly plant in Detroit, has taken on a second life as an explorer into the workings of the human knee.
The hulking robot thumps away incessantly, applying hundreds of pounds of force to a cadaver knee specimen implanted with a custom-designed sensor that me...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - January 26, 2016 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Mandelbaum on Grafts, Biologics, and Rehab in ACL RepairMandelbaum on Grafts, Biologics, and Rehab in ACL Repair
In the second of two columns on ACL reconstruction, an eminent surgeon discusses the latest thinking on the use of grafts, biologics, and rehab programs in hastening an athlete's return to play. Medscape Orthopedics (Source: Medscape Orthopaedics Headlines)
Source: Medscape Orthopaedics Headlines - January 21, 2016 Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Orthopaedics Article Source Type: news
Improving ACL repair with bio scaffolds
Tears of the knee’s anterior cruciate ligament — or ACL — are on the rise in middle school and high school athletes. The current treatment involves grafting in a piece of tendon from elsewhere in the body. It works very well, but requires six months to two years of post-op rehabilitation to regain strength in the knee and the place where the tendon was taken from (often the hamstring). Plus, up to 80 percent of patients develop arthritis within 15 years of the procedure.
Orthopedic surgeon Martha Murray, MD, wondered, “What if we could somehow stimulate the original ACL to heal back together?”
In research ove...
Source: Mass Device - December 7, 2015 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Fink Densford Tags: Blog Vector Blog Source Type: news
Factors associated with playing football after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in female football players - Fältström A, Hagglund M, Kvist J.
This study investigated whether player-related factors (demographic, personality, or psychological factors) or the characteristics of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury were associated with the return to playing football (soccer) in females after ... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - November 28, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Economics of Injury and Safety, PTSD, Injury Outcomes Source Type: news
Anterior cruciate ligament injuries in elite and high school rugby players: An 11-year review - Takazawa Y, Nagayama M, Saita Y, Kawasaki T, Kaneko K.
OBJECTIVES: Over an 11-year period, we investigated the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and the clinical outcomes after ACL reconstruction with hamstring autografts in two homogenous cohorts of rugby players. METHODS: Two tea... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - November 15, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Age: Adolescents Source Type: news
Cleaning the House of Medicine
A recent report in JAMA Internal Medicine highlights prevailing medical practices that should be "reconsidered" in 2015 based on the weight of evidence. The paper, appropriately, is written in the matter-of-fact style customary for the peer-reviewed literature. To some extent, that semblance of analytical calm belies the storm swirling between the lines of the report, and the mess it has long been making in the House of Medicine. The authors, for instance, note that excessive zeal for cancer screening results in "unnecessary surgery and complications." As a statement, that is rather bland, and even when statistics are att...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - November 13, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Over-the-Top, Double-Strand Technique Provides Positive Outcomes in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
No abstract available (Source: Lippincotts Bone and Joint Newsletter)
Source: Lippincotts Bone and Joint Newsletter - October 17, 2015 Category: Orthopaedics Tags: CME Article Source Type: news
Analysis of sport-injured pattern of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the reconstruction period of Chinese college students - Tan Y, Zhou P, Ma C.
In this study, we aimed to investigate the college students' injury patterns in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction stage by sport activities that contribute to ACL injuries and to estimate the association between activities at the time of... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - September 5, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Age: Adolescents Source Type: news
Return to sport: does excellent 6-month strength and function following ACL reconstruction predict midterm outcomes? - Sousa PL, Krych AJ, Cates RA, Levy BA, Stuart MJ, Dahm DL.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients with excellent 6-month functional testing after ACL reconstruction had (1) higher risk of subsequent ACL tears, (2) superior knee function, and (3) increased activity levels compared to t... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - August 7, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Economics of Injury and Safety, PTSD, Injury Outcomes Source Type: news
The influence of quadriceps strength asymmetry on patient-reported function at time of return to sport after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction - Zwolski C, Schmitt LC, Quatman-Yates C, Thomas S, Hewett TE, Paterno MV.
BACKGROUND: An objective assessment of quadriceps strength after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is an important clinical measure to determine readiness to return to sport (RTS). Not all clinicians are equipped with the means to objectivel... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - August 5, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Economics of Injury and Safety, PTSD, Injury Outcomes Source Type: news
A 10-year retrospective review of functional outcomes of adolescent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction - Reid D, Leigh W, Wilkins S, Willis R, Twaddle B, Walsh S.
BACKGROUND: Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an increasingly prevalent sporting injury in adolescents. Surgical reconstruction of the ACL in adolescents has been controversial and there has been little reported on functional outcomes afte... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - July 18, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Age: Adolescents Source Type: news
No need to treat stable meniscus tears during ACL surgery, new research shows
While athletes undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery often have an additional meniscus injury, treating these tears at the same time may not be necessary. Research shows positive results for meniscal tears that were deemed stable and left alone at the time of ACL reconstruction. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - July 10, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
Functional testing differences in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction patients released versus not released to return to sport - Mayer SW, Queen RM, Taylor D, Moorman CT, Toth AP, Garrett WE, Butler RJ.
BACKGROUND: No standardized return-to-activity or sport guidelines currently exist after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Isokinetic testing and unilateral hop testing, which have construct validity, are often used to make the determination... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))
Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated) - April 24, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Economics of Injury and Safety, PTSD, Injury Outcomes Source Type: news
Five strategies to keep your athlete engaged and positive after ACL surgery
About the blogger: Melissa Christino, MD, is an orthopedic sports medicine fellow in Boston Children’s Hospital’s Sports Medicine Division.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears in children and teens can be challenging injuries. While the surgery for ACL reconstruction generally involves minimal hospital time, patients must complete six to nine months of aggressive physical therapy to rehabilitate the injured leg, help optimize results and prevent re-injury.
Recovering from an ACL injury can be more devastating to a young athlete than the injury itself, and it is important for parents to be aware of the psychological...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - March 24, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Melissa Christino Tags: ACL Parenting Source Type: news
Nearly 40 years after milestone ACL reconstruction surgery, Puck skis like a kid
“I’ve skied 1.7 million vertical feet in the last five years,” says 36-year-old Philip ‘Puck’ Wheaton. It’s an awful lot of skiing, especially for a guy who was born without an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)—the critical ligament that holds the knee together.
When Puck had started walking in 1979, he seemed to wobble a bit—like most toddlers do, says his mother Liz Wheaton. At his 18-month checkup, his pediatrician determined there was more to Puck’s unsteadiness than run-of-the-mill toddler wobbliness. He referred Puck to Lyle Micheli, MD, director of Boston Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine Divisi...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - February 19, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Lisa Fratt Tags: ACL Our patients’ stories Source Type: news
