Treat An ACL Tear

Injuries to one portion of the ACL can also occur.  Some of these will behave like complete tears while others may be more of a mild strain.  Many of the milder injuries are amenable to nonsurgical treatment provided that there is excellent dynamic stability and strength.  There are now some interesting, less invasive options for the more significant partial tears which include modern repair and augmentation techniques, synthetic scaffold materials and cell-based treatments.

When these injuries occur in patients who have significant growth remaining, special considerations and adjustments must be made.  In the past, these kids were held out of organized sports until maturity.  Unfortunately, many of these normally very active patients suffered additional injuries during less-organized “backyard” activities.  Thus, surgical treatment may be preferable for many of these patients.  The surgical procedures must protect the remaining growth by avoiding grafts that will “tether” the growth plates and in some cases completely avoid the growth plates.