Torn ACLs are usually treated with invasive surgeries requiring long recoveries, but one surgeon in the New York City borough of Staten Island is trying to change that with the BEAR implant, Staten Island Live reported July 13.
The iOrtho clinic has become the first clinic on Staten Island to use the BEAR's technology for ACL tears.
While ACL surgeries typically involve reconstructing the ACL, the BEAR restores construction through a natural healing process.
The BEAR implant is put in and then resorbed by the body after approximately eight weeks. Patients then follow up the procedure by going to physical therapy.
BEAR technologies have been approved by the FDA for those with ruptured ACLs who are 14 years or older.
"There are advantages to restoring the ACL naturally by creating an environment for healing instead of removing it and replacing it with a graft," Gregory Montalbano, MD, an orthopedic surgeon who used BEAR technology for the first time in June of 2022, told Staten Island Live. "Traditional ACL reconstruction has graft site morbidity, the potential for future knee pain and never actually restores the natural pre-injury kinematics to the joint, setting a context for future knee problems."