Can I Get an Operation Named After Me?

Only in foot and ankle can you get an operation named after you when all you do is divide stretched ligaments in half and tighten them up. But the Broström ligament reconstruction has endured over 50 years with the help of a Gould retinaculum tightening.

Can we Do it Better?

Porter, using a 3rd generation polyethylene synthetic ligament (not available in the U.S. market) at 5 years follow up showed two failures in the modified Broström and none in the ligament augment (LARS) group. LARS had significantly better FAOS at 1, 2, 5 years and 5-year Tegner scores were higher in LARS.

May The Force Be With You!

The U.S. market offers two choices for ankle ligament augment devices. Suture tape, a permanent braided ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene/polyester (pioneered by Arthrex and now offered by several companies). And more recently, Artelon has been advocating an elasticporous polyurethane-urea that acts as a scaffold and promotes the ingrowth of native human tissue. Right now, the market is up for grabs, but physiology usually wins the day. We will watch this battle play out.