Surgical Goals - Sports Injuries Podcast

ACL injuries and how to survive them

February 24, 2022 Professor Gordon Mackay Season 1 Episode 3
Surgical Goals - Sports Injuries Podcast
ACL injuries and how to survive them
Show Notes Chapter Markers

Rupturing your ACL can be devastating but it is no longer the career-ending injury it used to be. In this episode, we cover everything you always wanted to know about the ACL - from its function in the knee, how to recognise you have injured yours (which is often trickier than you think) through to getting a diagnosis and choosing the correct treatment. 
Professor Mackay explains who can be most susceptible and what sports in particular, can often lead to an ACL injury. Today, advances in surgery mean repair of the ACL, thought impossible for many years, is now an option, so we also discuss the differences between traditional reconstruction surgery versus repair with the InternalBrace - a technique invented by Professor Mackay over 10 years ago. 
Surgeons were becoming increasingly aware of the association between ACL injury, reconstruction, and arthritis in the long term. Fortunately, technology changes everything and he set out to revisit ACL repair which is a much less traumatic procedure.  
You will also learn more about grafts, which your surgeon may suggest for both a reconstruction or a repair - for example using your hamstrings. Why this is sometimes necessary, what it actually entails and why this often deserves considerable consideration when it comes to your own return to sport, particularly at an elite level. 
It is a packed episode and Jennifer Reoch is on hand as ever to ask the questions you want answers to.

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The ACL and its function
How does ACL injury occur
How serious is ACL injury
Are some more at risk of injury
Traditional reconstruction methods
Journey to develop ACL repair
Development of InternalBrace
How does repair method work
Is repair available everywhere
Recovery in performance athletes
Grafts and why they matter
Re-rupture
Adding anterolateral stability
Accelerated recovery
Rehabilitation and why it matters