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ACL Surgery Specialist
Orthopedic Surgery, Arthroscopy, & Sports Medicine Located In Henderson, NV
Orthopaedic Institute Of Henderson
- Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are among the most common knee injuries, especially in people who play sports that involve pivoting, sidestepping, and jumping. If you want to restore full ACL strength, chances are you’ll need ACL surgery. The board-certified team at the Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson includes highly trained surgeons who are experienced in ACL surgery.
- Their exceptional surgical skills combined with their customized rehabilitation program get you back in the game as quickly as possible and at full strength. If you need help with an ACL injury, call the office in Henderson, Nevada, today or schedule an appointment online.
ACL Surgery Q & A
Whether or not you need ACL surgery depends on how severe your injury is and your future activity goals. Completely and partially ruptured ACLs can heal without surgery, but they won’t return to their pre-injury strength.
Additionally, your risk of developing ongoing knee instability is higher without surgical reconstruction. If you have a partial tear and no signs of instability, nonsurgical rehabilitation might be all you need.
But if you want to return to high-demand sports and work activities, you need to regain full ACL strength to prevent chronic instability. The only way to do that is with ACL surgery.
The symptoms of an ACL injury that could require surgery include:
- Severe knee pain
- Swelling
- Joint instability
- Loss of movement
- Difficulty walking
- Knee buckling
- Tenderness along the joint
About half of all people with a ruptured ACL suffer injuries of the meniscus, cartilage, and other ligaments at the same time as their ACL injury.
Your provider does your ACL surgery using minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery. They make a few tiny incisions and insert an arthroscope through one and instruments through the others.
A video camera in the scope sends magnified images of your knee joint to a monitor, allowing your Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson surgeon to examine the tissues. They diagnose all the damage beyond your ACL so that they can repair all the problems during your surgery.
A torn ACL can’t be stitched back together or reattached to the bone. Instead, the surgery rebuilds the ligament using a graft of tissue from another part of your body.
Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson usually uses a small piece of the patellar tendon that connects your kneecap to your shinbone. They remove a section from the tendon’s center, keeping a small piece of bone at both ends of the graft tissue.
The ACL tendon normally connects your femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shinbone). When using the tendon to make a new ACL, the pieces of bone on the tendon are anchored into your thigh and shinbone, recreating the exact position and angle of your original ACL.
Over time, the small pieces of bone grow into your leg bones, creating a solid anchor for your new ACL.
If you suffer an ACL injury, call Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson today or book an appointment online.
