Health Spotlight: Reducing Arthritis After ACL Injuries Of Youths

(WISH) -- An anterior cruciate ligament tear can mean more than knee surgery.

The injury can cause lifelong pain in the form of arthritis.

An estimated 200,000 people suffer a painful injury known as an anterior cruciate ligament injury each year.

An orthopedic surgeon says a serious injury can sometimes trigger arthritis in young people, slowing them down and causing more pain.

In sports such as soccer and American football, a person's knees sometimes touch their chin. Young people who play sports often injure their ligaments. "In this particular situation, the soft lining of cartilage at the ends of bones is damaged and that damage increases over time," said Dr. John-Paul Roux of Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

Doctors operate on anterior cruciate ligament injuries to prevent re-injury, but say they still haven't solved the problem of post-traumatic osteoarthritis.

Ru says: "One of the devastating problems with ACL injuries is that they usually occur in younger patients. Arthritis develops in young people after injury due to longevity, longevity.'

The joint narrows and can reach a painful point where it is effectively a bone-to-bone condition, requiring joint repair or even replacement.

Ru said: "One of the new ways is to restrict blood flow, and the idea is basically to put a tourniquet on your leg or arm, basically allowing the blood to clot in that leg so that the muscles are stronger. It works."

This allows the patient to exercise more reliably and reduces the risk of arthritis.

Roux says a qualified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in ACL repair is the only person who would perform this procedure on a patient.

This story is based on a script that aired on WISH-TV. Health Spotlight is presented by the Community Health Network.

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