ACL Surgery for Children and Teens: Where You Seek Treatment Matters

ACL surgery in a child or teen should account for the fact that bones are still growing. Learn why from CHOP’s experienced team. www.chop.edu/acl

In this video:
0:01 Molly’s ACL injury
1:21 What is the ACL and what does it do?
1:54 What causes ACL tears?
2:35 Why ACL injuries in youth are different than adults
2:55 Growth plates and why they matter
3:18 Pre-op ACL evaluation
3:54 CHOP’s ACL experience
4:10 Diagnosing an ACL injury
4:20 ACL reconstruction techniques
4:46 How we avoid disturbing the growth plates
5:02 Risks and benefits of ACL reconstruction surgery
5:19 Importance of mental recovery and coping
5:47 ACL rehab and other support services
6:35 A focus on young athletes
7:11 “Return to Play” program
8:01 Athletes treating athletes

Tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are among the most common sports injuries – especially among children and adolescents involved in competitive sports that require a lot of running, jumping and quickly switching directions. A quick pivot can tear or rupture the ACL, one of the core ligaments inside the knee which, along with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) controls the stability of the knee.

While there are multiple ways to treat an ACL injury, children and teens who are still growing require specialized care, treatment and rehabilitation. Doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) discuss:
• ACL reconstruction techniques used at CHOP to repair the ACL in children and teens who are still growing (using grafts from the quadriceps tendon, patellar tendon and iliotibial band [IT band])
• Details about the ACL repair procedure itself, including where grafts are attached to avoid damaging the patient’s growth plates, minimally invasive techniques used (arthroscopic ACL repair), and how incisions are treated post-op
• How CHOP supports youth during ACL surgery recovery to accelerate healing while also supporting mental health, including a structured “Return to Play” program which encourages a return to active lives, and helps youth safely resume competitive sports

CHOP physicians featured: Theodore J. Ganley, MD, Director of the Sports Medicine and Performance Center at CHOP; and Orthopaedic Surgeons (in order of appearance) J. Todd Lawrence, MD, PhD; Brendan A. Williams, MD; and Kathleen J. Maguire, MD, all from the Division of Orthopaedics. All four physicians were competitive athletes themselves and bring a unique perspective and understanding to working with adolescent patients with ACL injuries.

Topics:
• ACL
• ACL injuries
• ACL repair
• ACL rehab
• ACL surgery
• ACL treatment
• Torn ACL
• Anterior cruciate ligament
• Quadriceps tendon autograft
• Patellar tendon autograft
• Iliotibial band autograft
• IT band
• Minimally invasive ACL surgery
• Theodore J. Ganley, MD
• J. Todd Lawrence, MD, PhD
• Brendan A. Williams, MD
• Kathleen J. Maguire, MD
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia