ACL tear in young skier

Young skier

A young woman, at her thirties and an experienced skier, suffers from severe pain, swelling and instability in the left knee after a sky jump accident.

She is treated conservatively by an orthopedic with bracing and initially the symptoms subside. After one month, the pain returns milder, however, her left knee suffers from instability, is under active, limps and can not walk up and down the stairs. Moreover, her other knee gets tired and starts to pain as well. An MRI on her left knee shows partial tear of the ACL, bone edema on the lateral femoral condyle, the lateral tibial condyle as well as a small quantity of fluid inside the joint.

She is coming to our clinic because she wants to avoid the arthroscopy that the orthopedic suggests. After performing an extensive medical investigation followed by a discussion with the patient, we decided to proceed with a PRP treatment. As planned, we performed the PRP treatment containing autologous growth factors in great concentrations. Both the blood collection and the PRP production took place in our surgery during the same day with the treatment. The PRP was placed with pinpoint accuracy to the location of the lesion through a needle and under ultrasound guidance. The pain began to subside just one week after the PRP treatment and all other symptoms begun to gradually decline.

Two months after the PRP treatment, she reports no discomfort and has resumed performing her favorite sport.