We should stop and think about how far Sports Medicine diagnosis and treatment have come over the last three decades.
This morning, after exercising, I took a minute to “inspect” the ugly, 8 inch scar that tracks along the inner aspect of my left patella. That’s the remnant of an anterior cruciate ligament surgery I had almost 28 years ago. I tore the ligament playing soccer at age 15, and had surgeries at ages 16 and 17. As I contemplated my long-ago ordeal, it got me thinking how far treatment for sports injuries has progressed since my injury.
For example, when I was initially injured, I was diagnosed as having “internal derangement” of the knee. That is doctor-speak for “something’s wrong with your knee, but I’m not sure what”. I was injured in the late 1970’s – the MRI scanner hadn’t been developed yet. Instead, I underwent regular a regular x-ray exam, which was negative (ACL tears do not show up on routine x-ray). I also underwent two arthrogram procedures. This (now antiquated) procedure was somewhat effective in diagnosing meniscal (cartilage) tears, but was ineffective for visualizing my problem, a ligament tear. If I had been injury today, a 20 minute non invasive MRI would reveal my ACL tear – no fuss, no muss.
I suffered along for almost a year and a half, before my doctor finally tried a newly developed diagnostic technique on me – arthroscopy. At arthroscopy, my true problem, the ACL tear, was revealed. He then went on to do a repair, using “open” technique, resulting in the large scar I carry today (arthroscopic surgery hadn’t been developed yet). Had I undergone surgery today, the repair would have been less invasive, arthroscopic surgery, with equally good results. Yep, it’s really amazing how far sports medicine has come.
