New Hernia Repair Technique has Athletes Recovering Sooner

Ivanhoe Newswire
Monday, July 16, 2007; 12:00 AM

By Lindsay Braun, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Tension-free mesh, along with standard rehabilitation, seems to be the key to getting athletes with sports hernias back to competition sooner.

New research released at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine suggests surgical repair of athletic hernias using a permanent tension-free mesh successfully gives athletes a decreased recovery time. This research came from a study lead by Michael Brunt, M.D., a professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"Because there's no tension on the repair, and athletes have less pain than they would with a sutured repair, they can begin their rehab early and progress quickly. We've gotten athletes back to playing their sport as early as five weeks after repair," Dr. Brunt told Ivanhoe.

Dr. Brunt and his team collected data from more than 60 sports hernia patients and evaluated their recoveries. The mesh surgery along with a standard rehabilitation protocol helped successfully return 90 percent of the athletes to a full level of competition.

Although this technique is also used for regular, non-sport related, hernia repair, there are differences in the injuries. "The term sports hernia is a bit of a misnomer In athletes they don't have a hernia-bulge, usually there's no protrusion. They have exertion-related pain," said Dr. Brunt.

Sports hernias are especially common in hockey, soccer, and football players because of the sharp lower body movements associated with the sports. Dr. Brunt said, in some cases, an athletic hernia can be prevented with proper conditioning. "It's important to maintain a balance in the strength and flexibility between your lower extremities and your trunk. A lot of athletes focus on leg strength and don't pay enough attention to the trunk. There needs to be a good strong core in their conditioning program."

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SOURCE: Ivanhoe Interview with Michael Brunt, M.D., The 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in Calgary, Canada, July 12-15, 2007