I just came across this article from the Washington Post on ACL grafts. The article states:
Using replacement ligaments from cadavers for reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) may have a failure rate as high as 24 percent in active patients under the age of 40.
When I had my initial appointment with the surgeon, graft choices were not discussed. He explained that ACL surgery was performed using a hamstring tendon. End of story.
I did not know that I had options until after my surgery. This surgery has many variables (graft choices, bracing, PT protocols) with similar success. Dr. William Levine challenges the research because the variables were not taken into account.
"My concern is that we may be comparing apples to oranges," said Dr. William Levine, chief of sports medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia in New York City.
3 comments:
My surgeon asked ME what my preference was, since he understood I'd done my homework for options!
I'm all about the allograft (cadaver) option, since I didn't care for the idea of strip-mining my own body for spares.
All I can say is that they (the surgeons) should offer any and all options to someone who is going through this type of surgery.
Thanks for the comments.
It would have been nice to be presented with all the graft choices. It was very matter of fact. I was three weeks injury to surgery and things moved along quickly.
Everything ended up OK and I did trust my surgeon. At the time, if I was given the choice, I would have probably chosen the hamstring graft.
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