Current Strategies and Future Directions to Optimize ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Patients

The incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in the pediatric population has risen in recent years. These injuries have historically presented a management dilemma in skeletally immature patients with open physes and significant growth remaining at time of injury. While those nearing s...

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Main Authors: Dustin Jon Richter, Roger Lyon, Scott Van Valin, Xue-Cheng Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Surgery
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsurg.2018.00036/full
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author Dustin Jon Richter
Roger Lyon
Roger Lyon
Scott Van Valin
Scott Van Valin
Xue-Cheng Liu
Xue-Cheng Liu
author_facet Dustin Jon Richter
Roger Lyon
Roger Lyon
Scott Van Valin
Scott Van Valin
Xue-Cheng Liu
Xue-Cheng Liu
author_sort Dustin Jon Richter
collection DOAJ
description The incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in the pediatric population has risen in recent years. These injuries have historically presented a management dilemma in skeletally immature patients with open physes and significant growth remaining at time of injury. While those nearing skeletal maturity may be treated with traditional, transphyseal adult techniques, these same procedures risk iatrogenic damage to the growth plates and resultant growth disturbances in younger patients with open physes. Moreover, conservative management is non-optimal as significant instabilities of the knee remain. Despite the development of physeal-sparing reconstructive techniques for younger patients, there remains debate over which procedure may be most suitable on a patient to patient basis. Meanwhile, the drivers behind clinical and functional outcomes following ACL reconstruction remain poorly understood. Therefore, current strategies are not yet capable of optimizing surgical ACL reconstruction on an individualized basis with absolute confidence. Instead, aims to improve surgical treatment of ACL tears in skeletally immature patients will rely on additional approaches in the near future. Namely, finite element models have emerged as a tool to model complex knee joint biomechanics. The inclusion of several individualized variables such as bone age, three dimensional geometries around the knee joint, tunnel positioning, and graft tension collectively present a possible means of better understanding and even predicting how to enhance surgical decision-making. Such a tool would serve surgeons in optimizing ACL reconstruction in the skeletally immature individuals, in order to improve clinical outcomes as well as reduce the rate of post-operative complications.
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spelling doaj.art-9882093ce760404a875a4f79a536eeb12022-12-22T00:47:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Surgery2296-875X2018-04-01510.3389/fsurg.2018.00036313189Current Strategies and Future Directions to Optimize ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent PatientsDustin Jon RichterRoger LyonRoger LyonScott Van ValinScott Van ValinXue-Cheng LiuXue-Cheng LiuThe incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in the pediatric population has risen in recent years. These injuries have historically presented a management dilemma in skeletally immature patients with open physes and significant growth remaining at time of injury. While those nearing skeletal maturity may be treated with traditional, transphyseal adult techniques, these same procedures risk iatrogenic damage to the growth plates and resultant growth disturbances in younger patients with open physes. Moreover, conservative management is non-optimal as significant instabilities of the knee remain. Despite the development of physeal-sparing reconstructive techniques for younger patients, there remains debate over which procedure may be most suitable on a patient to patient basis. Meanwhile, the drivers behind clinical and functional outcomes following ACL reconstruction remain poorly understood. Therefore, current strategies are not yet capable of optimizing surgical ACL reconstruction on an individualized basis with absolute confidence. Instead, aims to improve surgical treatment of ACL tears in skeletally immature patients will rely on additional approaches in the near future. Namely, finite element models have emerged as a tool to model complex knee joint biomechanics. The inclusion of several individualized variables such as bone age, three dimensional geometries around the knee joint, tunnel positioning, and graft tension collectively present a possible means of better understanding and even predicting how to enhance surgical decision-making. Such a tool would serve surgeons in optimizing ACL reconstruction in the skeletally immature individuals, in order to improve clinical outcomes as well as reduce the rate of post-operative complications.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsurg.2018.00036/fullanterior cruciate ligamentinjuryreconstructionadolescentsmodeling
spellingShingle Dustin Jon Richter
Roger Lyon
Roger Lyon
Scott Van Valin
Scott Van Valin
Xue-Cheng Liu
Xue-Cheng Liu
Current Strategies and Future Directions to Optimize ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Patients
Frontiers in Surgery
anterior cruciate ligament
injury
reconstruction
adolescents
modeling
title Current Strategies and Future Directions to Optimize ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Patients
title_full Current Strategies and Future Directions to Optimize ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Patients
title_fullStr Current Strategies and Future Directions to Optimize ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Patients
title_full_unstemmed Current Strategies and Future Directions to Optimize ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Patients
title_short Current Strategies and Future Directions to Optimize ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Patients
title_sort current strategies and future directions to optimize acl reconstruction in adolescent patients
topic anterior cruciate ligament
injury
reconstruction
adolescents
modeling
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsurg.2018.00036/full
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