MIZZOU SURGEONS: Team with NFL to treat bad knees

COLUMBIA, 1/24/10  (Beat Byte) --  With a $120,000 grant from National Football League Charities, Mizzou orthopedic surgeons are developing a faster, easier way to diagnose tears in the meniscus -- a crescent shaped knee cartilage about one million people in the United States injure every year.   

 

Current diagnostic techniques involve hospital visits and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).  But James Cook, the William and Kathryn Allen Distinguished Professor in Orthopedic Surgery, and his team in the Comparative Orthopedic Laboratory have developed a method for on-the-field diagnosis using a new ultrasound technique.

 

Meniscal tears can mean the end for pro football players, especially if mis-diagnosed.  "The nature and extent of the injury is nearly impossible to determine until the MRI and arthroscopy procedures are performed, leaving the player, coach and medical personnel uncertain of whether the player can or should continue to play," Cook said. 

 

This year, NFL Charities donated about $1.5 million to 11 different organizations pursuing sports-related medical research.

 

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