Anterior cruciate ligament damage may be crippling if unchecked

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage, a type of knee injury that most frequently happens during sports, is becoming increasingly common in kids and teens, claims a research. Surgery should be carried out as soon as feasible for adolescents and young adults with ACL injuries when it is recommended. However, there is a twofold increase in the likelihood of delayed surgery for kids and teens whose parents don’t understand English.

The journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research published the study’s results. ACL rips hurt and may become permanently disabled if left untreated.

Most surgeons agree that surgery should be carried out within a month or two of the accident if it is necessary, which is typically the case with young athletes. Longer delays might cause more serious, permanent knee injury.

Sports medicine expert Neeraj M. Patel, MD, MPH, MBS, and colleagues examined 543 young patients who underwent ACL surgery at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. 16 was the average patient age, and both boys and girls were evenly represented. The authors analysed the timing of surgical procedures between 113 patients whose preferred language was not English and 430 patients whose families spoke Spanish at home (more than 90% of these patients’ families spoke Spanish at home).

The patients with parents who spoke a language other than English were twice as likely to have surgery more than 90 days after the accident, the researchers discovered. Even if the researchers took into consideration the patients’ insurance status, this disparity was still seen.

Orthopedic surgery departments are urged by Dr. Patel and his colleagues to offer more equal care to kids and teens whose parents speak a language other than English. Some of the tactics they advise are:

* Increasing the number of multilingual medical professionals,

* Making arrangements for improved interpreter availability,

* By making health information readily available in the local community’s native tongues,

* Collaborating with primary care physicians, community groups, and schools to promote awareness of ACL injuries, speed up diagnosis, and

* Teaching medical staff members how to make sure that families are aware of the suggestions for managing an ACL injury and are actively involved in the choice of whether to have surgery.

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The authors state that “institutions should build a culture of care that is attentive to and ready for persons whose preferred language is not English.” This should entail asking questions to and interacting with such families to learn more about their particular healthcare requirements, prejudices they deal with, and hurdles to care.

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