The new procedure requires physicians to dissect a thin piece of cartilage-bearing bone from the patient's knee and then shape it to fit the gap in the wrist bone from damaged ligaments. The bone, including the original blood vessels and cartilage, is transferred to the wrist joint to solidly fuse the bone segment. The procedure is designed to preserve the cartilage surface and promote healing.
Dr. Higgins' patient was the first person in the United States to receive the procedure. Six weeks after the procedure, the patient's hand had healed to match the strength of his other hand, which previously received the conventional ligament reconstruction.
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Hand Surgeon Dr. James Higgins Performs New Ligament Reconstruction Technique
Written by Laura Miller | August 29, 2011
James Higgins, MD, chief of Union Memorial Hospital's Curtis National Hand Center in Baltimore, is performing a new hand surgery procedure using a technique he learned abroad while fulfilling the Godina Traveling Fellowship from the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery last year, according to a Union Memorial Hospital news release.
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