Curt is one of the toughest people I have ever worked with!💪 for example, within several months of his surgery, he was kicking a metal post with his shin to get his leg “back in shape”🤪
One of the things that’s not mentioned in the story is that we spoke about biologic treatments preoperatively and Curt was very well educated and well-versed already on these type of treatments, such as bone marrow cells and PRP in addition to photo bio modulation/laser. The BEAR implant is FDA approved for hydration with autologous blood, which, as you can see from many of my previous posts works extremely well. Also, the original, Dr. Martha Murray, et al, research showed that hydrating the BEAR implant with PRP did not add to the healing or improve the healing of the ACL. However, what we have found so far in our experience with Bridge Enhanced ACL Restoration/Repair (BEAR) is somewhat similar and somewhat different. In the patients that we utilized PRP in addition to whole blood, it doesn’t seem to have made a difference in their clinical subjective or objective results. However, when we utilized bone marrow aspirate cells in addition to whole blood to hydrate the BEAR implant, such as we did with Curt, and several others, and also injected PRP intra-articularly, (not to hydrate the implant), the patients have done significantly better, objectively and subjectively. Even the patients who had the surgery performed, with the implant hydrated with whole blood at the time of surgery, and then had bone marrow cells and PRP injected into the intercondylar notch and intra-articularly within 2 weeks, have done better objectively and subjectively. I am a little superstitious and don’t want to say this, but no failures in those patients either.
Clearly, more research and numbers are needed, and I must caution that utilizing bone marrow aspirate cells is off label use of the BEAR implant, but we have been performing biologic procedures in conjunction with ACL reconstruction ourselves since at least 2017 and have found better subjective and objective results.
Bottom line: adding biologic, especially cell therapy, to ACL repairs such as BEAR surgery (they work very well with partial ACL tears and probably with the Cross Bracing protocol, but more to come on that in the future) has significant promise and deserves more research. I would be more than happy to help contribute to that research, like we have by providing our data for the BEAR Registry, if you come from a larger institution or institution that has more capability for formal research.
Very exciting and promising times in regenerative medicine, orthopedic surgery and sports medicine care!
P.S.: let’s not forget, non-invasive MLS laser ⚡️therapy that we have utilized in all of these patients as well, as another variable for success. So there are a lot of variables that need to be sorted out.
#BEARimplant #ACLRepair #KneeRepairNOTKneeReplacement #KneeReplacementFreeBy43 #DrMarcPietropaoli
“I am living proof that the BEAR Implant works, and I am able to do everything I used to prior to my injury. I feel supremely confident in my knee and am continuing to make progress in my physical health journey," says 32-year-old MMA fighter and BEAR Implant recipient Curtis, whose surgery was performed by Marc Pietropaoli, MD of Victory Sports Medicine & Orthopedics in New York.
Read his story in our Comeback Community: https://lnkd.in/gUM8XbPG
Get product/safety info at https://bit.ly/3p50Jmk.
#ACLtear #ACLrestoration #BEARacl #BEARcomeback #MMA #mixedmartialarts #savetheACL
Physician Assistant Spartanburg regional Trauma
3wStrong work Charlie!