The Culture of Different MKTG_150064494_2018 Service Line Big Book Full_FIN | Page 8

Rehabilitation on the
Slopes of Winter Park
ORTHOPEDICS INSTITUTE
ORTHOPEDICS
Reducing the Risk of ACL Retear
LEADERSHIP:
Mark Erickson, MD,
Co-Chair, Pediatric
Orthopedics
Rose Brown Chair,
Pediatric Orthopedics
Nancy Hadley-
Miller, MD, Co-Chair,
Pediatric Orthopedics
Dennis Matthews, MD,
Chief, Pediatric
Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation
Fischahs Chair,
Pediatric Rehabilitation
READ MORE ABOUT
ORTHOPEDICS:
“A Spine the Size of
Your Hand,” p. 10
About 10 years ago, Jay
Albright, MD, pediatric
orthopedic surgeon, began
repairing anterior cruciate
ligament (ACL) injuries with the
quadriceps tendon graft. It’s
a technique common among
adult patients but nearly
unheard of in pediatrics.
Using the hamstring for an
ACL repair — the traditional
approach — permanently
weakens the muscle, which may
increase the chance of tearing,
particularly in young females.
Dr. Albright learned from
Nashville’s Allen Anderson, MD,
orthopedic surgeon, a surgical
technique that allowed him to
use the quadriceps tendon while
avoiding the growth plates
to reduce ACL retear rates in
female athletes.
Though the quadriceps
technique has a longer recovery
“Making an X-ray look better doesn’t necessarily change the function
of the limb,” says Frank Chang, MD, Medical Director of the Adaptive
Recreation for Childhood Health (ARCH) Program. “We need to
understand what the patient needs. Is it to help them walk? Is it to
help them sit in a wheelchair more comfortably?”
For more than 35 years, Dr. Chang and his wife have been
volunteering their Saturdays every winter to bring kids from the
ARCH Program — whose aim is to help kids with physical disabilities
find confidence and freedom through sports and outdoor recreation
— to Winter Park Resort.
“On the bus on the way home, the kids will say, ‘That’s the first
time I’ve gone that fast in my life,’” Dr. Chang says. “’I can’t
believe the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair.’ It’s the
experience of a lifetime for them to be recognized as athletes and
not disabled individuals.”
Considered a pioneer of
this procedure in pediatrics,
Jay Albright, MD, has performed
close to 700 quadriceps-patellar
bone grafts to date.
time — potentially keeping
athletes off the field longer — it
has better long-term outcomes.
“I think about in 10, 15, 30
years what their knee is going
to be like,” Dr. Albright says. “I
want them to be able to teach
their kids and grandkids how
to play soccer.”
96%
ACL reconstruction graft success rate after 24 months
In his 36 years at Children’s Colorado, Dr. Chang has collected
hundreds of stories from kids who surpassed the limitations of
their orthopedic conditions because of their experiences at
Winter Park. Some of his patients have even gone on to win gold
at the Paralympics.
The Rehabilitation Medicine Program at
Children’s Colorado treats more than 7,400
kids a year. It’s one of the biggest and most
experienced programs in the country.
ARCH began at Children’s Colorado as the Hospital Ski
Program in 1967. It paired war veterans who’d lost limbs
with kids who had amputations. Now, more than 80
patients participate every year.
The Culture of Different
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