Inside the operating room: ACL surgery

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Hearing the sound of a drill coming from the operating room might make some uneasy. For Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Robert Hagen, it's just another day at the office.

On this day, he's repairing one of the most common injuries in sports, a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament, or ACL.

"I do about 80 a year," said Dr. Hagen. "I used to count and could tell you, but I don't count anymore. This may be my first field hockey ACL. Not a lot of field hockey played around here."

His patient is 17-year-old Weston Schwav, who tore his ACL playing floor hockey in gym class.

"I was running with the ball and I don't know," said Schwav. "I just kind of jumped and landed on it wrong and it popped out."

Schwav took a trip to see Dr. Hagen, who recommended surgery. Dr. Hagen said there are three main types of surgery you can have. He said you can take a tendon from a cadaver to repair the damage, or you can use a hamstring.

Schwav is getting the most commonly used method, taking part of the patellar tendon, which rests between the knee cap and the shin bone.

"You take a piece of bone from the kneecap, a piece of bone from the shin bone, and take a small strip of that tendon and use that," said Dr. Hagen.

Dr. Hagen describes a torn ACL as looking like a rope that has been torn apart.

"It's like taking a rope and shredding it into strands," said Dr. Hagen. "It's just not going to provide any support for him."

The surgery takes about an hour to perform, depending on the amount of cartilage damage in the knee. Luckily for Schwav, he has none. However his injury, which occurred in a matter of seconds, will result in months of rehab.

"They'll see the physical therapist for some more strength and conditioning for often two months afterwards, " said Dr. Hagen. "Most of those people are doing very well at week two or three, but it takes about two months before the knee feels good, and it's probably three to four months before you can play sports. Probably six to eight months until you're playing real well."

Dr. Hagen said if patients take the rehab process seriously, they can perform just as well as before their ACL tear. In fact, one of his patients went on to score the winning goal for Japan in the World Cup against the United States in the summer of 2011.