ACL repair is best for people who have a recent ACL tear right at the spot where it attaches to the thigh bone (femur) and who don’t have other knee injuries. This method is getting more attention, especially for younger patients.

One benefit of ACL repair is that it keeps your natural ACL and its function, which might not be the case with ACL reconstruction. Keeping the original ACL can help avoid problems like early arthritis that can sometimes happen after reconstruction. ACL repair uses your own ACL tissue, so no new graft (replacement tissue) is needed.

During ACL repair surgery:

1. Sutures: Doctors use stitches to reattach the torn ACL.
2. Tunnels: They make two small tunnels in the thigh bone (femur) and one in the shin bone (tibia) to secure the ACL in place.

This helps to fix the torn ACL without replacing it with new tissue.

BEAR surgery stands for Bridge-Enhanced ACL Repair. It’s a newer type of surgery that we do offer in which we treat a torn ACL with a repair technique and a special material to help heal itself.

1. Special Material: During the surgery, doctors place a sponge-like material (called a “collagen scaffold”) into the space where the torn ACL was. This material helps to bridge the gap between the torn parts of the ACL.
2. Healing: The scaffold helps the ACL tissue heal and grow back together. It provides a surface that encourages the natural healing process of the torn ACL.
3. Sutures: Stitches are used to keep the torn ACL in place and hold the scaffold in position.