Surgeons at Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center have performed the health system's first BEAR implant operation to reconstruct an injured knee ligament.
The procedure was performed on a 15-year-old soccer player; the Bridge-Enhanced ACL Restoration is designed to promote a self-healing process within the body. It is the first device developed to let a person's ACL heal on its own, according to a May 23 news release from Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health.
Without surgical treatment, the patient would have had to undergo two to three months of physical therapy and wear a brace every time she played soccer, the release said.