Innovative ACL reconstruction now approved for patients as young as 7 years old
An increasing number of young people are tearing their ACLs, and an innovative procedure is now approved for use on the youngest patients.
To repair an ACL, surgeons typically borrow tissue from another part of the body, like a hamstring or quadriceps tendon, to reconstruct the ligament. Traditional ACL reconstructions can be quite painful, have a relatively high failure rate and student athletes can't always return to the same level of performance.
What is BEAR procedure?
The bridge-enhanced ACL restoration, or BEAR procedure, has become a more attractive option for some. The ligament is repaired, and then this collagen implant that looks like a marshmallow, bathed in the patient's own blood, is inserted into the knee to help the ligament heal.
"We get this blood clot, then we get the body that creates the healing response, and then you get a healed ACL, which is really amazing because now we're keeping your own nerves, your own blood vessels," said Massachusetts-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott Sigman.
Surgery now available to school-aged children
Sigman has performed more BEAR procedures than almost anyone in the world. The surgery was FDA-approved in 2020 for people 14 and older, but now it's available to school-age kids, as young as 7 and 8, who are increasingly injuring their ACLs.
"We have these really cool new anchors that are not made out of metal, so literally we don't have to touch the growth plates. In the past, if you injured a growth plate, the leg could actually grow wrong," said Sigman.
Fifteen months post-BEAR, Jonny says his knee is not only restored to the way it was, it may even be better. Now, he's back to dreaming about playing at the college level.
The hope is to one day use this BEAR technique for other orthopedic injuries like rotator cuff tears or Achilles tendon ruptures.
