experimental ACL procedure

[Dexter Rutecki]

Wrong forum, but I feel like no one looks at Gimp Central.

Anyone have any clue what this could be? I looked around and couldn't find any details whatsoever. She is already racing again (and scoring WC points), so I guess it worked.

https://www.skiracing.com/stories/ve...to-save-season

Last week, Slovakian slalom star Veronika Velez Zuzulova left a South American training camp on crutches with a serious injury in her right knee, reportedly a ligament tear. With her Olympic dreams threatened, the World Cup veteran has announced that she will undergo a “modern procedure” in an attempt to be back on snow in time for the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Normally, a knee surgery like this comes with a six to eight-month recovery period, but Velez Zuzulova hopes to be back on skis in just two months, according to her Facebook post on Monday.

Velez Zuzulova had a similar injury in her left knee back in 2013, just before Levi, Finland. She attempted to comeback without surgery on her ACL, but found that her knee could not support the intensity of World Cup racing and missed the 2014 Games. She has competed in three Olympic Winter Games, but never won a medal. The 33-year-old skier had five World Cup podium results last season including a win at Zagreb, Croatia. In total, she has won five World Cup slalom races during her career and earned 30 podium results.

[snowday]

Curious about this, this is my second winter on 1 ACL. Talk about lack of details, she go to Russia for treatment?

Heard about another type of ACL repair being done in Boston, but a small trial run: http://www.childrenshospital.org/cen...l-repair-trial

[Dexter Rutecki]

Yeah, maybe it was something like that. Who knows.

I did a season without an ACL (currently have a partial tear--makes #4 for me, but who's counting). Skiing was fine, but by late spring I could barely walk down stairs. If you can do it the surgery is great.

[that dude who did that thing]

Lots of athletes recover from ACL grafts much faster than 6 months. Hell, even my fat ass was using the knee pretty aggresively just 3-4 months post-op. And one of my orthopedists told me his girlfriend was skiing 6 weeks post-op, against medical advice, but it's her body.

[4matic]

Maybe robotic to make minimal incision. Synthetic ACL that is thinner and stronger. Just tack it down and good to go. Guessing of course.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Lots of athletes recover from ACL grafts much faster than 6 months. Hell, even my fat ass was using the knee pretty aggresively just 3-4 months post-op. And one of my orthopedists told me his girlfriend was skiing 6 weeks post-op, against medical advice, but it's her body.

Yeah, but the point is that this was billed as an experimental procedure. I've had three reconstructions and the best I've done was back on snow in five months--and that was the absolute limit of what the doc would allow with very aggressive PT. I guess if I had been doing PT full time I could imagine maybe getting it to four months, but my understanding is that until your cells have recolonized the 'new' tissue (which takes probably 4+ months) the ligament isn't strong enough to rely on.

Granted, even with the standard procedure a pro athlete might risk being on a less than fully healed ACL, but the point of this was that it explicitly allows a shorter recovery time. I was certainly not willing to risk blowing out the ligament again by returning to full activity before the doc said to--wasting a surgery and all that PT by pushing the timetable would just never be worth it.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Maybe robotic to make minimal incision. Synthetic ACL that is thinner and stronger. Just tack it down and good to go. Guessing of course.

I doubt that a robot would make the incisions smaller in an arthroscopic ACL reconstruction. The instruments are already about as small as practical. You're probably onto something with the synthetic ligament. They used to use synthetic grafts or LADs(ligament augmentation devices) back in the '80s and early '90s but they didn't last because they couldn't really mimic the native ligament. The grafts never really healed like a cadaver or auto graft which are gradually resorbed and replaced with your own tissue. They tissue grafts basically act as a framework for new tissue growth.

[DaHeel]

[Fritz]

Maybe she’s trying the stem cell injection therapy? I’ve had a consult for that and they say it’s a much quicker recovery but I ultimately went a different direction.

[Marshall Tucker]

^ that was my guess, stem cells. to other points, Full tear of non-dominate ACL 3-5-17 repaired with cadiver material 3-27-17. I was playing tennis at about 90% of normal by July 20, 2017 (USTA 4.0). Right now the joint doesn't "feel" 100% and I haven't skied at all this winter (not hard to do in the southeast). Lifelong runner, +-20 miles a week. I beleive I've fundamentally altered my running stride post-op and have had really bad calf pain (tendonitis?) on-and-off since I've tried to rebuild milage really dating to August 1 2017. Currently not running, yoga and tennis, 4-6 times a week.

YMMV.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

This isn't new. If you have an avulsion injury where the ligament pulls off the tibia(more common) or the femur you can reattach it at it's insertion point. Most ACL tearsare in the substance of the ligament and aren't going to heal if you try and suture them back together, there's also the difficulty of proper tensioning.

[sb]

It s come a ways since I had my reconstruction back in 93, for me the longest heal time was where the patella graft came out.

Had PRP done year before last which has gained me some time.

[BS720]

Sure, stem cell. But what about an aggressive hgh regiment on the side?

[that dude who did that thing]

Yeah, but the point is that this was billed as an experimental procedure.

Not int he article you linked it wasn't. That article just said "modern procedure." Which could just mean arthroscopic procedure.

I've had three reconstructions and the best I've done was back on snow in five months--and that was the absolute limit of what the doc would allow with very aggressive PT.

That's cuz you're a big pussy, and your doc knew it. Should have slapped a Donjoy on that thing and gone skiing, like I did for 10 years after my ACL tear and before I finally got it fixed.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Not int he article you linked it wasn't. That article just said "modern procedure." Which could just mean arthroscopic procedure.

It could, but that would be strange (my father had his ACL repaired arthroscopically in 1988 in what was almost identical to my first two reconstructions, so I would have trouble with the descriptor 'modern'). And as the thread title indicates, everyone is saying it was experimental.

That's cuz you're a big pussy, and your doc knew it. Should have slapped a Donjoy on that thing and gone skiing, like I did for 10 years after my ACL tear and before I finally got it fixed.

Nah, my doc didn't care. I did a whole season with a complete tear (had no choice given when I injured it, otherwise kids would not have skied that year). I was able to ski entirely normally, even catching air (which I did almost accidentally without thinking about it--and got very scared in the air--the first time I did it that season). However, I was unable to walk downstairs and some other things without intense pain by spring. Kind of surprising (skiing--fine, walking normally on stairs--no go).

No brace, ever. Build up some length strength and harden the fuck up, you wuss.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

That's cuz you're a big pussy, and your doc knew it. Should have slapped a Donjoy on that thing and gone skiing, like I did for 10 years after my ACL tear and before I finally got it fixed.

You know, you're probably fine skiing for several weeks after reconstruction, but then as the graft is resorbed and replaced with your tissue through creeping substitution it turns to mush. This is usually when people really start feeling better and that's why so many ACL reconstructions fail because the patients are non compliant. You can continue to spew stupid shit about things you know nothing about if you want.

[Dexter Rutecki]

You can continue to spew stupid shit about things you know nothing about if you want.

Easy, man. You want 90% of the posting activity on this board to cease?

[Dexter Rutecki]

^ that was my guess, stem cells. to other points, Full tear of non-dominate ACL 3-5-17 repaired with cadiver material 3-27-17. I was playing tennis at about 90% of normal by July 20, 2017 (USTA 4.0). Right now the joint doesn't "feel" 100% and I haven't skied at all this winter (not hard to do in the southeast). Lifelong runner, +-20 miles a week. I beleive I've fundamentally altered my running stride post-op and have had really bad calf pain (tendonitis?) on-and-off since I've tried to rebuild milage really dating to August 1 2017. Currently not running, yoga and tennis, 4-6 times a week.

YMMV.

Fuck, that sounds kind of shitty. All three of my reconstructions have brought me back to 100%--skiing everything with no issues, hockey, tennis, etc.

Are you confident in your surgeon? Why did they do cadaver vs. autograft (patellar)? (I have had one cadaver graft after I ran out of options for patellar, and it has been fine, but AFAIK patellar is still considered the gold standard, although it means your recovery time is probably longer.)

[that dude who did that thing]

You can continue to spew stupid shit about things you know nothing about if you want.

You mean like saying people should just form a union?

And what Dex said. Jesus man, you understand this place even worse than I do.

[Mofro261]

According to this link here, Zuzulova did have ACL re-attachment and not reconstruction.

[charles martel]

She got a Dr. Nick special:

https://youtu.be/CQMJolaxmR8

Sent from my SM-G930T using TGR Forums mobile app

[MagnificentUnicorn]

You mean like saying people should just form a union?

And what Dex said. Jesus man, you understand this place even worse than I do.

I explained that my 'form a union' statement was facetious you tard.

Oh I understand this place. Most people post something valid sometimes, you never seem to.

[that dude who did that thing]

Your feelings are hurt, aren't they? I'm sorry I made you feel bad.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Your feelings are hurt, aren't they? I'm sorry I made you feel bad.

That's funny, most people that know me in real life usually wonder if I have any feelings. Keep trying fatso.

[that dude who did that thing]

The personal insults are always the best proof of injured pride. It hurts me that I have caused you sadness.