Lessons in joint preservation from sports medicine’s ‘fad du jour’

By Jeff Wyman

For those who follow the sports pages and injury reports of some of the biggest stars, it is easy to notice the growing amount of injuries and procedures involving the hip joint and the soft structured labrum that have been damaged. Uncommonly gifted athletes — and young ones at that — have suddenly emerged as the poster children for one of the most common injuries to afflict older, and decidedly more casual, athletes.

Sportswriters covering the “rash” of high-profile hip labrum injuries have called on countless experts — some with orthopedic credibility and others with less-specialized medical expertise — to weigh in on the reasons behind the uptick in surgeries. The theories have ranged from the insightful, (today’s nonstop training methods), to the interesting (the impact of performance-enhancing drugs).

What hasn’t been covered by the mainstream press is the connection between the more advanced diagnostics and their role in more easily identifying these injuries. Better MRIs and advancements in knowledge and research are enabling more doctors to anticipate and identify and treat minor problems before they become too damaged to repair.

All of which underscores how the sports medicine industry is making the important shift toward joint preservation. A practice that was once was focused on returning athletes to their respective sports as quickly as possible, is transforming into a broader joint preservation practice that is now being applied across a range of patients that expands far beyond athletes. We all know that baby boomers are not going quietly into the night and instead are focused on continuing to hit the treadmill, lift weights, play tennis or otherwise pursue the range of repetitive motion activities that can lead to injuries such as torn hip labrums. This demographic has as much of an influence on the growth and advancement of sports medicine as the traditional athlete demographic and meeting its needs is where joint preservation really comes into play: The innovative surgical and nonsurgical solutions the orthopedics industry is developing will add years to the optimal performance of joints, giving all patients — the All Stars and average baby boomers alike — the health and enjoyment that comes with freedom of activity.

But that means we all must work together to move beyond today’s joint repair and toward tomorrow’s regeneration treatments. A variety of orthobiologic research is giving the sports medicine industry the footing to develop new treatments that aim to regenerate soft tissue structures with the hopes of providing patients with earlier, les- invasive treatment options.

Instead of the conventional approach of mechanically repairing a joint, tomorrow’s treatments have the potential to treat patients on a more biologic level, which is more desirable and potentially effective than total replacement.