by Liz Bonis, WKRC | Click here to see the full story.

CINCINNATI (WKRC) – As basketball tournament season ramps up, local knee specialists are urging athletes and weekend players alike not to ignore serious knee injuries — especially ACL tears — warning that delaying treatment can lead to long-term damage.

The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, connects the thigh bone to the shin bone and serves as a critical stabilizer for people who play sports, particularly basketball. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Adam Metzler, a knee specialist with OrthoCincy, said the biggest concern after an ACL tear is instability that can set off a chain of additional injuries.

“I think the most important thing is safety, so when we have an ACL tear, unfortunately it results in significant knee instability, and it’s really important that if they don’t have an ACL reconstruction or have that repaired, then it’s going to result in chronic risk for meniscus tears or cartilage damage and early arthritis which potentially can result in early knee replacement,” Metzler said.

Metzler also described how ACL reconstruction is typically performed, using a patient’s own tissue to rebuild the ligament.

“Well typically we are going to take some of the patients tissue, take a graph from them, usually a quad tendon or a patella tendon and reconstruct or make them new ACL by linking it into the joint with either bone screws fixation or corticofixation, but we are going to link in and make them a new graph or make them a new ACL out of their own tissue,” he said.

Recovery from ACL reconstruction takes about nine months, Metzler said. He also warned that trying to return to play before that can hurt future performance, citing studies showing an early comeback can hinder how athletes perform down the road.