(ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Tension-free mesh, along
with standard rehabilitation, seems to be the key to getting
athletes with sports hernias back to competition sooner.
New research released at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American
Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine suggests surgical repair of
athletic hernias using a permanent tension-free mesh successfully
gives athletes a decreased recovery time. This research came from a
study lead by Michael Brunt, M.D., a professor of surgery at
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
"Because there's no tension on the repair, and athletes have less
pain than they would with a sutured repair, they can begin their
rehab early and progress quickly. We've gotten athletes back to
playing their sport as early as five weeks after repair," Dr. Brunt
told Ivanhoe.
Dr. Brunt and his team collected data from more than 60 sports
hernia patients and evaluated their recoveries. The mesh surgery
along with a standard rehabilitation protocol helped successfully
return 90 percent of the athletes to a full level of competition.
Although this technique is also used for regular, non-sport related,
hernia repair, there are differences in the injuries. "The term
sports hernia is a bit of a misnomer … In athletes they don't have a
hernia-bulge, usually there's no protrusion. They have
exertion-related pain," said Dr. Brunt.
Sports hernias are especially common in hockey, soccer, and football
players because of the sharp lower body movements associated with
the sports. Dr. Brunt said, in some cases, an athletic hernia can be
prevented with proper conditioning. "It's important to maintain a
balance in the strength and flexibility between your lower
extremities and your trunk. A lot of athletes focus on leg strength
and don't pay enough attention to the trunk. There needs to be a
good strong core in their conditioning program."
SOURCE: Ivanhoe Interview with Michael Brunt, M.D., The 2007 Annual
Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in
Calgary, Canada, July 12-15, 2007
