Israeli Surgeons Perform Novel Knee Surgery to Prevent Recurrent Ligament Tears

An 18-year-old Israeli footballer has undergone a groundbreaking knee surgery at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, marking the first time this innovative procedure has been performed in Israel. The surgery, led by Dr. Lior Laver, aims to prevent recurrent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, a common and career-threatening injury for athletes.

The novel operation combines ACL reconstruction with a tibial osteotomy, a procedure to correct an abnormal backward tilt of the tibia (shin bone). The young patient suffered from repeated ACL tears and an anatomical abnormality that significantly increased his risk of re-injury. Standard ACL reconstruction alone carries a high risk of failure in patients with this specific tibial tilt, which can be present in 10-12% of cases and increase re-tear risk by five to eleven times.

In this advanced procedure, surgeons not only reconstructed the ACL but also performed a controlled fracture of the tibia to reduce its backward tilt from 18 degrees to below the normal threshold of 8 degrees. This correction reduces stress on the newly reconstructed ligament, significantly lowering the chance of future tears. Dr. Laver, head of arthroscopy and sports injuries at Hillel Yaffe and a physician for the Israeli Football Association, explained that correcting the tibial slope is crucial for the long-term success of ACL reconstructions in suitable patients.

The surgical team also included Dr. Noam Reshef, head of orthopedics at Ziv Medical Center in Safed, and Dr. Ali Yassin, a senior orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine at Hillel Yaffe. This new technique offers hope to hundreds of patients facing similar challenges, though the decision for bone correction is made on a case-by-case basis after a thorough evaluation of the knee's structure and the patient's history.