When to Fix an ACL Tear | Dr. Hollman

Hi. I’m Mark Hollmann with Florida Orthopaedic Associates. We’re taking the time today to answer some questions from some of our patients.
The one today is, “What is an ACL tear, and when do I need that fixed?
That’s a great question because I do see ACL tears in a varying range of patients … anywhere from my 14-15-year-olds, we've been seen as young as 10, although that's incredibly rare. Typically, it's my 16- to 20-year-old athlete whether it's high school or my Stetson athletes, but I can see it in the patients up to 40 or 50. Some of my patients with severe arthritis will have had an ACL tear 30 or 40 years ago and now they've developed arthritis in their knee. So, it kind of spans a lot of age groups.
The treatment for ACLs is typically in our younger patients. We rarely do this in people over 40 or 50. I have done it but that's a very specialized group of patients. Typically, in my younger patients we do that once the swelling goes down. You might have heard of the athletes in the NFL or NBA they don't get their ACLs done right away. They're not rushed right into surgery. You want the swelling to go down. You want the range of motion to basically be back close to normal. Because if you do an ACL on a stiff knee it's going to be a lot harder to get the motion afterwards. So, we try to wait for the swelling to go down and then we schedule it more as an elective procedure. But I would say anybody who really wants to remain athletic even if they're into their 30s or 40s or has a heavy labored job typically we will reconstruct those patients. There's been a lot of questions on ACL repair. That has not been successful at this point in time, so we do actually reconstruct the ligament. And that's what we've been doing for about 20 years plus now.
www.fl-ortho.net
ABOUT FLORIDA ORTHOPAEDIC ASSOCIATES - Florida Orthopaedic Associates provides full-service orthopaedic care and sports medicine for all types of orthopaedic injuries and conditions. Their team of fellowship-trained orthopaedic physicians offer the latest non-surgical and surgical treatment options for the Central Florida community including total joint replacement, spine, hand and upper extremities, hip and knee, and sports medicine. With over 55 years of excellence in orthopaedic and sports medicine, Florida Orthopaedic Associates has offices in DeLand, Orange City, Lake Mary, New Smyrna Beach and Port Orange. Orthopaedic Associates has been involved in the Central Florida community for many years, offering support as team physicians for Stetson University, local high schools and various regional sport programs.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: floridaorthopaedicassociates floridaorthopaedicassociates
DISCLAIMER: The information presented is neither intended as rendering medical advice nor as a substitute for seeking professional medical assistance. No relationship between Florida Orthopaedic Associates and its practitioners may be created through fl-ortho.net and/or it’s social media profiles. Please keep in mind that, although we operate within a secure environment, Florida Orthopaedic Associates is not responsible for the security of information transmitted via the internet. For any individual with specific questions regarding their individual health or treatment options, he or she should contact Florida Orthopaedic Associates and schedule an appointment.