ACL REPAIR LECTURE: February 24, 2023 @ 8am

BEAR Implant for ACL Restoration and Recovery: A Cutting Edge Look into ACL Repair

I hope you will join me for a free lecture and continuing medical education credits on an exciting new procedure to repair (NOT RECONSTRUCT) the torn ACL. The technique, history of ACL treatments and my personal experience with this procedure will be covered.

Register: Click Here To Register

ACL Surgery: In The News

In a recent segment on NBC news I was interviewed about the ACL repair technique I have been performing utilizing the BEAR implant.

Dr Rizio interviewed on WNBC TV (link to interview)

This procedure repairs the injured ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and avoids the taking a graft from another pert of the knee or use of donor tissue. The procedure is best for acute tears (recent). I am available for consultation to determine which procedure is best for each patients injury.

Lecture: Prevention of Throwing Injuries

This is a short lecture on prevention of throwing injuries with the focus on baseball pitchers. The principles apply to athletes who participate in all overhead sports including tennis, javelin, football etc…

Closeup of baseball ball
Feel free to comment, like or share this presentation.

Press: Article from City Lifestyle Magazine

See my recently featured article on ACL repair and a new FDA approved implant. I have been performing this procedure and was the first in Northern New Jersey to perform the operation. I hope you enjoy the article.

ACL Repair with BEAR implant

NEW LOCATION:

The time has finally arrived! I will be moving my practice to the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) in Livingston beginning April 4, 2022.

State of the art orthopaedic surgery office with valet and abundant onsite parking. X-ray on site.

Sports related conditions of the shoulder, knee and elbow

  • ACL Reconstruction & Repair
  • Rotator Cuff Repair
  • Shoulder Labral Repair
  • Tommy John Surgery
  • Meniscus Tears
  • Cartilage repair and regeneration
  • Shoulder and Knee Arthritis
  • Tennis Elbow
  • OCD (osteochondritis dissecans)
  • Many other shoulder, knee and elbow conditions as well

I look forward to seeing old and new patients for orthopaedic injuries, consults and second opinions in my new location!

Dr. Rizio performs First ACL Repair with BEAR Implant at Short Hills Surgery Center

ACL repair has long been considered an operation that will fail. In recent years there has been a renewed interest in repairing the ACL. Based upon new information, a revisiting of old research articles and newer devices has identified tears that may be amenable for repair. Success with repair in the proper patient can be achieved reliably and the native ACL can be saved.

The BEAR technique utilizes a recently FDA approved device to “bridge” the gap in the repair and enhance healing by promoting healing through the use of the patients own blood and growth factors, providing a scaffold for repair and blocking the synovial (joint) fluid from disrupting the repair process. This now allows for an even wider array of tear patterns to be amenable to repair.

Video representation of BEAR procedure (Hold link to open video)

This is particularly exciting for younger, pediatric patients that are still growing. This technique avoids the need to use the patient own tissue and allows for safe repair without as much risk to the growth plate. Dr. Rizio is accepting new patients interested in this technique and also many other sports related injuries. Dr. Rizio sees sports injuries in adult and pediatric patients.

To learn more about the actual device, clink the link below for the company website:

https://miachortho.com

Ambulatory Care Center

200 South Livingston Avenue

Suite 230, West Wing

Livingston, NJ 07039

P: 973-322-7005

City Life Style Magazine – New article

Check out my latest article. Hope you enjoy and learn some more about my practice!

Orthopedic Sports Medicine Surgeon helping pediatric and adult athletes get back to competing for 20 years

https://citylifestyle.com/morristown-nj/articles/health-and-wellness/dr-rizio

Don’t Shoulder The Pain – Health & Life Magazine

CHECK OUT A RECENT ARTICLE IN MORRIS/ESSEX MAGAZINE WHERE I AM A FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR ON ROTATOR CUFF DISORDERS

Don’t Shoulder the pain – Health and Life Magazine

Read on – https://www.healthandlifemags.com/dont-shoulder-the-pain/


Don’t Shoulder The Pain – Health & Life Magazine
— Read on www.healthandlifemags.com/dont-shoulder-the-pain/

ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) Repair

ACL tears are increasing in frequency secondary to increased levels of participation, frequency of games and practice.

ACL tears are a common injury and being seen with greater frequency and at younger ages. Tears lead to loss of time from sport and activities and can lead to further joint deterioration without prompt recognition and treatment. The standard treatment is a reconstruction with autograft (patients tissue) or allograft (donor, cadaveric tissue). The choice of graft depends on several factors including age of patient and sports activity level. Currently, the time to return to sport has been shown to effect re-injury rates. Historically, 6 months after surgical reconstruction was considered an appropriate time to return to sports without restrictions. This notion has been challenged by recent studies noting lower re-injury rates by waiting 9 months or more to return to sports.

ACL graft (hamstrings)

Newer surgical instruments and a retrospective look at studies from decades ago regarding primary repair have lead to resurgence in interest in primary repair instead of reconstruction. Failure rates have been high with this technique in previous studies that lead to the abandonment of this procedure. However, when evaluating the results or success of repair in specific tears, the results can approach that of a reconstruction. Specifically, proximal tears (from the femur) have better success when repaired. The advantage of a repair is that the ACL can be saved, less invasiveness and potentially faster return to sports. If the repair were to fail the standard options for reconstruction still exist. This is particularly attractive in pediatric patients where reconstruction techniques can injure growth plates.

Not every patient is a candidate but the option should be available for those patients inclined to have a repair over a reconstruction. I offer this to my patients who are appropriate candidates based on MRI appearance and surgical evaluation. Below is a short video demonstrating a repair I performed and the technique utilized.

Video of ACL Repair

Clavicle (collarbone) Fractures

Breaking the clavicle or “collarbone” occurs from a fall or direct blow to the area. Contact sports like football, rugby and ice hockey are common high risk sports. Falls while cycling, skiing and motor vehicle accidents are other common ways to fracture the clavicle. Immediately following the injury patients experience pain, swelling and limited use of the arm. X-rays are usually sufficient to make the diagnosis and initial treatment involves immobilization in a sling and use of ice and over the counter pain medications.

X-ray showing a clavicle fracture that is displaced and in multiple pieces

Treatment can be surgical or non- surgical. Non-surgical management simply lets the fracture heal in the position it is in and includes a period of immobilization. The immobilization period is typically 3-4 weeks until sufficient healing occurs so therapy can begin and pain is decreased. Non-surgical management has been the norm for a long time, however, surgical fixation or repair is gaining popularity for certain injuries.

X-ray showing clavicle plate

Surgical repair can be accomplished with a variety of devices, but usually a plate and screws has some advantages. Repair can align very displaced fractures. When the fracture is very displaced and when fragments shorten or ride over each other patients who are active tend to complain of shoulder pain and sometimes weakness or dysfunction. This can be alleviated with surgical repair. In addition, fracture healing time is shortened with surgical repair and risk of fracture not healing is lessened by surgical fixation. Use of the upper extremity is allowed much sooner following surgical repair.

In summary, clavicle fractures can be managed with or without surgery. Treatment decision is made based on fracture type, displacement and shortening. Patients activity level, age and other risk factors are taken into consideration as well. Below is a short presentation on a clavicle fracture I treated utilizing sutures and a plate to restore the anatomy and fix the fracture anatomically.

Presentation of clavicle fracture treated surgically