Innovative techniques allow faster healing
BRMC Viewpoint Summer 2009

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Tom Knox is using innovative techniques to correct knee and shoulder problems at Baxter Regional Medical Center. To reconstruct the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), he is now using a method known as the “double bundle” technique. The ACL is one of four ligaments that connect the femur (thighbone) to the tibia (shinbone). Its natural state is to have two bundles, the anterior medial and the posterior lateral bundles, that stabilize both the side-to-side and backward/forward movement of the knee.

New techniques are allowing ACL reconstruction patients to heal more quickly and completely. Knox trained for the “double bundle” procedure last fall in Jackson, Miss., and is seeing greater stability in patients who have had this type of repair. He says this should be especially beneficial for athletes.

Knox has been doing arthroscopic assisted ACL reconstructions for the past 26 years. But high-definition arthroscopy equipment purchased by BRMC is enhancing the “double bundle” technique and other procedures.

Knox also uses the high-definition equipment to do arthroscopic shoulder surgery, including rotator-cuff repair and shoulder stabilization. “I’ve been doing arthroscopic rotator-cuff repairs here for about four years,” Knox says. “Rather than making an incision to open the shoulder, we’re able to pass these sutures through the rotator cuff using small implants called anchors.”

These “anchors” have sutures attached to them. Knox can pass the anchors through the rotator cuff, bringing the rotator cuff back into alignment and suturing it into the bone with the anchors, all while using the scope to guide him.

“From that, we are now doing complete stabilization of the shoulder,” he says, including a 17-year-old boy who experienced recurring shoulder dislocations.

The recovery time for the arthroscopic surgery is substantially less than that of surgery done with larger incisions. Knox says the 17-year-old will be in a sling for about four weeks letting the soft tissue envelope heal. The teen will start on motion exercises in about four weeks and be ready to return to sports in about three to four months. With traditional surgery, it would likely be six to eight months before he could play sports again.

The goal of the new methods in orthopaedic surgery, Knox says, is to restore quality of life more quickly and to help people retain the ability to participate in the activities they enjoy.