Dead guys Achilles being used to heal ACL injuries

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/cronulla-sharks-enforcer-anthony-tupou-makes-a-miracle-return-against-the-roosters/story-fnbhnhr2-1226420509080

Has anyone used this sort of surgery in the NFL? I can only think it would be beneficial for preseason/training camp injuries as the NRL season is a lot longer than the NFL but I think to get that star player back it would be worth it.

ZOMBIE

Dead organ donors or bodies for dissection are called cadavers, my dad has a cadaver's ligament for an ACL.

This is not news. This has been going on for years. For many body parts.

Originally posted by KowboyKiller:
Dead organ donors or bodies for dissection are called cadavers, my dad has a cadaver's ligament for an ACL.

I've had two done so far for the same knee. The thing is you don't know if the person was active or a couch potato. But then the alternative is the doc taking a part of your hamstring, which then causes the hamstring to tighten up easier then normal.

Originally posted by stonecold590:

This is not news. This has been going on for years. For many body parts.

Hell of a thread title.

Garrison Hearst comes to mind.

Greetings! Although I'm not much for posting, I can contribute a little here... When handling a torn ligament such as the ACL, there are three general ideas:

1) You can leave it be and avoid extreme physical exertion on the area. In this case, the ACL will not grow back on its own and sports such as football are a terrible idea. Professional athletes almost always opt for treatment. That brings up the next two options

2) You can replace with you own tissue. In this case, you can harvest a portion of another ligament or tendon and insert it where the ACL goes. Unfortunately, this usually has a longer recovery time (two sites of wound healing). However, down the road, the outcomes are usually better. The ACL is less likely to tear again and your body is much more likely to successfully incorporate the new tissue and your ligament will be fine. This is what is usually done with athletes (especially young ones)

3) The final choice is to use a cadaver or donor to provide the new tissue. You can use a hamstring, Achilles, or many other tissues from a cadaver as a graft. This has the advantage of a faster recovery (as seen in the article) but runs the risk of poor outcomes later on in life. Tears are more likely (as one poster mentioned) and the body may reject the new tissue entirely... although that is uncommon.

The bottom line is that when reconstruction is the goal, most athletes will opt for a self donation because of the higher rate of success unless there is a unique situation where a speedy recovery is needed or he is at the end of a career and won't face the same level of workout intensity

^Thanks for that...do you work in orthopedics? I'm a 4th year med student right now.

Originally posted by RishikeshA:
Garrison Hearst comes to mind.

John Clayton comes more to mind.

Originally posted by Doc9er:
Greetings! Although I'm not much for posting, I can contribute a little here... When handling a torn ligament such as the ACL, there are three general ideas:

1) You can leave it be and avoid extreme physical exertion on the area. In this case, the ACL will not grow back on its own and sports such as football are a terrible idea. Professional athletes almost always opt for treatment. That brings up the next two options

2) You can replace with you own tissue. In this case, you can harvest a portion of another ligament or tendon and insert it where the ACL goes. Unfortunately, this usually has a longer recovery time (two sites of wound healing). However, down the road, the outcomes are usually better. The ACL is less likely to tear again and your body is much more likely to successfully incorporate the new tissue and your ligament will be fine. This is what is usually done with athletes (especially young ones)

3) The final choice is to use a cadaver or donor to provide the new tissue. You can use a hamstring, Achilles, or many other tissues from a cadaver as a graft. This has the advantage of a faster recovery (as seen in the article) but runs the risk of poor outcomes later on in life. Tears are more likely (as one poster mentioned) and the body may reject the new tissue entirely... although that is uncommon.

The bottom line is that when reconstruction is the goal, most athletes will opt for a self donation because of the higher rate of success unless there is a unique situation where a speedy recovery is needed or he is at the end of a career and won't face the same level of workout intensity

Great response.

This is nothing new. Cadaver ligaments have been used in surgery for years.

Originally posted by Doc9er:
Greetings! Although I'm not much for posting, I can contribute a little here... When handling a torn ligament such as the ACL, there are three general ideas:

1) You can leave it be and avoid extreme physical exertion on the area. In this case, the ACL will not grow back on its own and sports such as football are a terrible idea. Professional athletes almost always opt for treatment. That brings up the next two options

2) You can replace with you own tissue. In this case, you can harvest a portion of another ligament or tendon and insert it where the ACL goes. Unfortunately, this usually has a longer recovery time (two sites of wound healing). However, down the road, the outcomes are usually better. The ACL is less likely to tear again and your body is much more likely to successfully incorporate the new tissue and your ligament will be fine. This is what is usually done with athletes (especially young ones)

3) The final choice is to use a cadaver or donor to provide the new tissue. You can use a hamstring, Achilles, or many other tissues from a cadaver as a graft. This has the advantage of a faster recovery (as seen in the article) but runs the risk of poor outcomes later on in life. Tears are more likely (as one poster mentioned) and the body may reject the new tissue entirely... although that is uncommon.

The bottom line is that when reconstruction is the goal, most athletes will opt for a self donation because of the higher rate of success unless there is a unique situation where a speedy recovery is needed or he is at the end of a career and won't face the same level of workout intensity

i also heard that there is a high chance the body rejects the cadaver ligament.

Originally posted by StOnEy333: