Taking care of your ACL

For all of the athletes in Odessa, it might be music to the ears that an Odessa doctor is trying a new, less invasive and quicker procedure to repair a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament, or ACL.   

Jesse Bersoza, a lifetime soccer player, had the procedure done in August.
Bersoza, 30, was hurt playing with the Spanish Soccer League in Odessa and had to stop coaching his son's soccer team because of his troublesome limp.

A day after surgery, he was off the pain pills and only needed crutches for a few days.

He was playing golf again after two months, and now he is already able to kick the ball around with his son at three months.  

 "I had a buddy who had the surgery with the older procedure, and he was on crutches for weeks," he said.
On open-knee ACL surgery typically leaves a nasty 6- to 10-inch scar down the middle of the leg.
Although there have been previous arthroscopic ACL procedures, this one simplifies the process into one step.  

The surgeon doesn't have to use his hands - it is a one-step process because the doctor loads the tendon tissue into a "gun device" and the surgery is done, Cayenne Medical spokesman Paul Williams said.
"It is almost like you are using a staple gun," he said.
Odessa Orthopedic Surgeon Steven Riley was one of the first 25 doctors in the nation to perform this new ACL procedure that leaves only two little holes around the knee.  

 And the patient can be in and out in one day.  

The surgery used to take eight hours, but Riley said the new less-invasive procedure takes less than an hour at the longest.   "It dramatically speeds the process and simplifies it," Williams said.
The procedure is arthroscopic, which means everything is done through two small knee incisions. But Riley said rehabilitation is about the same because those things are up to nature.
The doctor takes a hamstring graft and replaces the torn ligament.

Older or less common procedures would take a graft from the kneecap, which removes part of the bone causing pain for years after the surgery.  

"The hamstring is better, and gets the patient to where they are 100 percent stronger," Riley said.  

The ACL is the main support structure of the knee that prevents rotation of the thighbone on the shinbone.  

Riley said he sees a lot of local athletes come through his office due to sports injuries - he said the procedure is essential for the athletes if they ever want to play again.  

Bersoza said he is slowly getting back in the game and hopes to start coaching his daughter's soccer team soon.
Riley has done at least 75 surgeries since his group adopted the procedure, and only one has failed.

The doctors still don't know what happened, but he said the procedure has a very low percentage of failure.  

The surgery has been available for patients for 18 months, and Riley said it has since been adopted by hundreds of surgeons all over the country.
"He is a pioneer for the West Texas and the Southwest region," Williams said of Riley and the new ACL procedure.   ALL ABOUT   THE ACL
(Anterior Cruciate Ligament)
>> The ACL is one of four ligaments that are crucial for knee stability.
>> The ACL prevents the shinbone from sliding too far forward. 

>> Many sports require a functioning ACL.  

 >> Teaching traditional methods of ACL surgery in medical school proved difficult because it is something learned from practical experience. This new procedure is replicable.  

 >> The new device called "Aperfix" was created by Cayenne Medical Company consisting of ‘medical veterans' trying to find a faster way to perform the otherwise daunting procedure.