Two Michigan Orthopedic Surgeons Pioneer Innovative ACL Surgery with New Benefits for Athletes, Weeken...( Procedure adds stability may abolis...),Health

Procedure adds stability, may abolish post-operative arthritic knee pain

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new, more effective surgery to repair a common sports-related knee injury, the torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), is now available in Michigan.

"This innovative technique more accurately recreates an ACL's normal anatomy," explains Dr. John Samani, M.D. "We believe this procedure also stabilizes the knee to a degree never seen before with traditional ACL reconstruction."

Samani, and his partner, Dr. Thomas Perkins, D.O., successfully began performing anatomic double-bundle ACL reconstruction earlier this year through their Michigan Knee and Shoulder Institute in Auburn Hills after returning from an international symposium led by top surgeons from around the world who regularly perform the double-bundle procedure.

The normal ACL is composed of two bundles that perform distinct functions to control knee stability and rotation. The double-bundle procedure reconstructs both bundles in the ACL. The traditional approach reconstructs only the injured bundle.

The double-bundle procedure has been used in Europe for nearly a decade and has been under study in the United States since 2002. Samani and Perkins were two of only a handful of physicians from the Midwest to attend the symposium and then utilize the technique at their sports-medicine practice here in metro Detroit.

ACL tears, among the most common sports-related knee injuries for both males and females, happen when the ACL is stretched beyond the normal elasticity range. More than 200,000 ACL tears occur each year in the United States. The highest incidence is in individuals between 15 and 25 years old who participate in pivoting sports, such as soccer and football. Injuries also occur with significant frequency in middle-aged athletes. They have reached almost epidemic proportions in young female athletes, adds Samani.

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