Women are at a higher risk for suffering an ACL injury. Dr. Plancher developed a gender-specific surgery that allows women to be back in action quickly after surgery.
Jen Braswell, 20, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in a game against Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., during the fall of 2006. As Braswell was up by the net and jumping for the ball, her body curved on her way down to avoid the net, and she landed on her right leg. Her knee gave out, and almost instantaneously, she was in excruciating pain.
The ACL is one of the most commonly injured ligaments of the knee. Most injuries occur in the young, athletic population. The ACL is injured when it sustains a force that exceeds the strength of the ligament. This may result from non-contact injury (landing awkwardly, cutting or changing direction). The risk of ACL injury is highest in sports that require pivoting, jumping, cutting or a rapid change of direction.
“Women suffer ACL injuries at a significantly higher rate than men,” said Kevin Plancher, M.D., a renowned Connecticut orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist and head of Plancher Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Cos Cob, Conn., and founder of The Orthopaedic Foundation for Active Lifestyles. Through the Orthopedic Foundation's work, Dr. Plancher and his team are investigating unique issues that impact the orthopedic health of women.
Why are women winding up with more knee injuries? Researchers suspect one of the most likely causes is the way women are built. Women tend to have wider hips and are slightly knock-kneed (their thigh bones tend to curve inward from the hip to the knee), and this alignment can create added stress on the joints. Another cause could be traced to a female's muscles. More often, women tend to use their leg muscles differently than men.
“The ACL connects the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia). Athletes are particularly susceptible to ACL injuries because this ligament can be torn when a person changes direction rapidly, slows down from running or lands from a jump. These tears prevent the knee from being able to support the body, and often require surgical repair,” said Kevin Plancher, M.D.
“Individuals who experience ACL tears usually describe a feeling of the joint ‘giving out' or buckling. Many patients also often hear or feel a ‘pop' at the time the knee is injured. Other signs and symptoms may include an inability to continue to play after the injury, a large amount of knee swelling noted two to12 hours after the injury, an inability to fully straighten or bend the knee and repeated ‘giving way' episodes of the knee with sports activities,” stated Plancher.
Dr. Plancher performed an ACL surgical repair on Jen Braswell on Tuesday, November 21, 2006, at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, Conn. By using very small incisions, he was able to take the new graft (Braswell's bone with a piece of patellar tendon) and place it inside her knee. Rehabilitation began the same day in an accelerated fashion. All of the surgery was minimally invasive so her recovery could be as rapid as possible. Three months after surgery, she is showing great range of motion without discomfort. According to Dr. Plancher she can expect to be back on the volleyball court in time for next season. Braswell is extremely optimistic about returning and being ready for the Eastern Connecticut College volleyball team, whose season starts in August 2007.