Game-changing surgery: building pain-free athletes

BACKGROUND:  Orthopedic surgeons are using new procedures available for athletes who severely injure themselves.  These procedures result in a pain free athlete.  The surgeries are aimed at helping athletes who have shoulder, knee, and elbow problems. 

SHOULDER:  SUB-ACROMIAL HOOK PLATE- The clavicle hook plate provides a single solution for fixation of both lateral clavicle fractures and acromioclavicular joint injuries. The plate and screw construct allows early rotational mobility of the shoulder (Source: shoulderdoc.co.uk). 

The plate stabilizes the joint during healing.  As long as it is healing the athlete will become stronger faster.

PLATELET RICH PLASMA- For athletes who have tendonitis and arthritis in shoulders, elbows, or knees, they can inject their own blood into problem area instead of having surgery.  The blood is injected into the damaged tissue.  Blood is made of RBC (Red Blood Cells), WBC (White Blood Cells), Plasma, and Platelets.  Platelets release healing proteins called growth factors.  They mostly generate tissue and wound healing.  When the platelets are increased in concentration, they can dramatically heal the problem.  This makes the healing time shorter and allows athletes to become pain free (Source: orthohealing.com). 

KNEE: PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENT- If the knee is not completely damaged, more orthopedic surgeons are leaning towards partial knee replacement for athletes.  The doctors remove damaged tissue and bone in the knee joint and replace the area with a man-made implant. They can replace just the damaged area of the knee that will result in shorter recovery times.  Most patients go home the day of surgery and are able to walk without a cane or crutches three to four weeks after surgery (Source: nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus).