Exercise alone can repair and rehabilitate them, says Dr. Stephanie Filbay
Release Date – 12:15 AM, Thu – 29 December 22
Exercise alone can repair and rehabilitate them, says Dr. Stephanie Filbay
Hyderabad: Until recently, nearly every sports rehabilitation specialist and orthopedic specialist in the country recommended mandatory surgery for professional and amateur athletes who tore their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the bone that connects the thighbone (femur) to the shinbone (tibia). strong organization).
However, a major study of ACL tears published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in November did shake up the fields of sports medicine and orthopedics.
The study, led by Dr Stephanie Filbay, a physiotherapist and senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne, suggests that surgery is not necessary for ACL tears. In contrast, ACL tears can be repaired and rehabilitated with exercise alone. The new findings challenge the common belief that ACL injuries do not heal and require surgery.
Exercise-based rehabilitation can help people recover from ACL tears without surgery, the study says. The study analyzed trial data and found evidence that ACL tears can be healed with rehabilitation. That’s not all! The study also reported that those who underwent ACL rehabilitation rather than surgery recovered better.
About 53 percent of the study’s clinical trial participants with ACL ruptures who received exercise-based rehabilitation declined ACL surgery because they would heal naturally after rehabilitation.
“MRI manifestations of ACL healing after ACL rupture occurred in one-third of adults randomized to initial rehabilitation and in one-half of adults without crossover to delayed ACLR, and were associated with favorable outcomes. Spontaneous ACL healing to facilitate The potential for better clinical outcomes may be greater than previously thought,” the researchers said in their study.
What is ACL reconstruction?
Typically, ACL reconstruction is a surgery that replaces a torn ACL ligament in the knee with a healthy tendon. Often, a healthy tendon can be harvested from multiple places, such as a hamstring graft where the tendon is taken from the patient’s hamstring. Sometimes healthy tendons are also taken from the patella, quadriceps, and sometimes tissue is taken from tissue banks from cadaveric donors.
ACL injuries often occur while playing sports, especially those that involve quick changes of direction, jumping, running fast, and sudden stops, such as badminton, volleyball, basketball, hockey, and soccer.
An ACL injury occurs when the ACL is stretched to its limit. Due to this enormous stretch, the ACL tissue tears, which affects the connection between the thighbone and the shinbone, causing the knee to become unstable. A torn or damaged ACL can make running, jumping, or even walking very painful.
Individual recovery from an ACL tear is a lengthy process. After surgery, it can take at least six months or even a year, depending on the patient, to fully regain the knee’s normal range of motion. Worldwide, including India, ACL reconstruction surgery is the most common treatment for ACL tears or ruptures.
Exercise Helps Tissue Regenerate
In November, a team of researchers published a paper titled “Molecular Mechanisms of Exercise-Promoted Tissue Regeneration” in the prestigious journal Nature, illustrating how ACL tears can repair themselves through exercise rehabilitation.
For centuries, physical activity has been recognized as an essential element in the promotion of human health…Exercise has been considered as a candidate for alleviating diseases as diverse as metabolic, neurodegenerative, oncological, and cardiovascular diseases. In particular, the ability of exercise to promote tissue regeneration has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent decades. Improving the efficiency of tissue regeneration is currently a key challenge in regenerative medicine, as most adult human organs have a weak regenerative capacity,” the researchers said.
