QC Family Focus: October 2014

Staying Strong on the Pitch
ACL Knee Surgery Keeps
QC Women Athletes in the Game
Night or day and no matter
what the season, chances are you’ll
find UT soccer player, Gabrielle
Pauwels, 15, Silvis, IL, on the pitch,
playing her favorite sport. “Soccer
keeps me quick on my feet, and I
just love playing defense,” she says.
Her mother, Megan Pauwels, agrees,
“Soccer is Gabrielle’s social life, her
favorite sport, and her first love, so
losing that would have been very hard
for her.”
Gabrielle’s gratitude stems from
her strong comeback following a torn
ACL in her right knee, an increasingly
common injury, especially among
young women athletes who play
pivot sports like basketball, soccer,
or volleyball — sports that demand
jumping, twisting, and sudden stops
that put added pressure on the knee. “I
was just playing kickball and heard a
‘pop,’” recalls Gabrielle. Subsequent
swelling and pain sent her to ORA
Orthopedics’ Sports Medicine Center
for treatment with fellowship-trained
sports medicine physician, Dr. Waqas
Hussain.
ACL reconstruction
“Gabrielle’s telltale ‘pop’ and
swelling indicated a completely torn
ACL,” explains Dr. Hussain (a MRI
confirmed the diagnosis). The ACL
(anterior cruciate ligament) is one of
the four primary ligaments in the knee.
These ligaments control the knee’s
back and forth motion. “The treatment
for a torn ACL is reconstruction,” says
Dr. Hussain. “The first step is reducing
the swelling and preparing the knee for
surgery.”
Dr. Hussain performs ACL
surgery at Crow Valley Surgery
Center, a surgical center specializing
in orthopedics. The surgery is
performed on an outpatient basis and
usually takes about 60-90 minutes
to complete. “To rebuild Gabrielle’s
ACL, I harvested a small part of her
own hamstring tissue and built a new
ligament. This surgery is minimally
invasive and spares surrounding tissue,
UT Panther soccer player, Gabrielle Pauwels, 15, Silvis, is back in the game
after successful ACL reconstructive knee surgery at ORA Orthopedics.
Waqas Hussain, MD
ORA Orthopedics, Davenport
leading to a quicker recovery and
return-to-play,” he explains.
“Patients like Gabrielle are home
the same day and walking soon after.
Strong physical therapy and exercising
usually means athletes can return to
their previous activity between 7-12
months. We also make an effort
to time the surgery with athletic
seasons so that players can be cleared
prior to the opening season.” Every
year ORA performs over 200 ACL
reconstructions.
Women more prone to ACL injury than men
Following surgery and months of rehabilitative
exercise and training, Gabrielle is back playing the
game she loves, but she is not alone in her comeback
to health. According to NIH Medline Plus, young
women are two to eight times more likely than
young males to injure their ACLs. In general, young
female athletes are more prone to ACL injuries
than their male counterparts due to body structure,
hormones, and muscular development.
“Young women experience significant changes in
adolescence. As they develop a wider pelvis, their
knees often point inward to a greater degree. And
because women also have less muscular strength
than men, the result is greater stress being placed
on their ACL. Hormone levels in women can also
mean greater laxity, meaning looser knees that
may also contribute to increased ACL injury,” he
explains.
Dr. Hussain, who completed his sports medicine
fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic and
served as assistant team physician for such teams
as the Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians, and
Cleveland Cavaliers, says prevention is the key to
protecting knees for all young athletes. “Athletes,
especially female athletes, need to learn how to jump
and land correctly. You don’t want knees to buckle
inward. We tell all of our patients that following
surgery, they should work with a physical therapist
so that good habits become second nature. We want
athletes to tear it up on the field as they score that
goal, not tear up their knees and end promising
careers too soon.”
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