husband + wife team providing surgical care to elite + recreational athletes in the seattle area
The musings + thoughts of the Wahl Team, a Seattle-based surgical orthopedic husband + wife team, who specialize in surgical sports medicine + athletic trauma.
There are no absolutes about who is ‘too young’ or ‘too old’ to consider reconstruction, the decision should really be made with respect to how knee instability affects a person’s ability to remain active and healthy.
Read MoreThere are some knee conditions that in my practice are “deal-breakers” for using particular ACL grafts.
Read MoreIn a room full of orthopaedic surgeons, you can’t throw a cat without hitting a few docs who have torn their ACL’s and never had them reconstructed. Why? Because a lot of orthopaedists don’t regularly participate in sports that involve rapid direction change, cutting, jumping, landing or pivoting; and if you don’t do those things, the likelihood that you’ll experience knee instability is low.
Read MoreMultiple studies have demonstrated that females have a 4x to 10x higher risk of ACL-injury compared with same-sport males, and up to 4x higher rate of re-injury or further surgical treatment after they’ve undergone ACL reconstruction.[i]
Read MoreThe allograft is the “Honda scooter of grafts” – It is easy to drive, you can park it anywhere, it’s dirt cheap with respect to graft pain, but they don’t work well to haul things or race, and there might be some reliability and safety issues. You might not want it as your only vehicle.
Read MoreThe QT graft is a little like a “Hybrid Hatchback of grafts” – it actually does a lot pretty well, but not everything, not very ‘costly’ in terms of pain, but a lot of people just never think about buying one.
Read MoreHamstring autograft is the “4WD SUV of grafts” – It is reliable, it is flexible, it is a workhorse that works great for most people with few exceptions (from taking out the groceries all the way to tennis practice to the marathon). It isn’t too ‘costly’ with respect to pain or arthritis, but high performance individual, elite athletes and folks exposed routinely to contact sports might be looking for a little more.
Read MoreFor me, the BTB is the “Luxury Sports Car of Grafts” – it’s built for speed and power, it’s sexy, it wins races, but it comes at a potential cost, and it may be more than some people need. I prefer using the BTB graft for my patients who are in the athletic population, unless there are specific patient variables that make me think it is not the best choice or contraindicated.
Read MoreNot everyone who has an ACL tear needs to have ACL surgery; so, before signing up for surgery to reconstruct your ACL, think about your activity level, current level of function and comfort, activity goals, etc and decide with your surgeon what the best treatment option is for you and your knee.
Read MoreACL reconstruction...as good as it is, it is still not perfect. ACL reconstruction is one of the most successful procedures we have in orthopaedics, that is, depending on the type of patient...
Read MoreDr. Christopher J. Wahl, offering expertise in surgical sports medicine, trauma dan orthopedics in Seattle, WA; specializing in complex knee and shoulder injuries.
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