Pediatric sports medicine surgeon Jeremy Frank, MD, of Miami-based Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, adopted a surgical technique designed to repair anterior cruciate ligament tears in children without harming their growth plates, KSAT News reports.
Here are four things to know:
1. In the past 15 years, ACL injuries in adolescents has increased by almost 400 percent.
2. Using a strip of tissue from the patient's iliotibial band, Dr. Frank then wraps it around the individual's thighbone and through the knee before stitching it to the top of the shin bone.
3. Dr. Frank told KSAT News that the procedure is designed to eliminate the possibility of injury to the patient's growth plate since the bones do not require drilling.
4. The procedure's recovery time is the same as any other ACL procedure, and Dr. Frank said the re-rupture rate in children is 5 percent to10 percent.