ACL Injuries on the Rise in Teen Athletes

Studies show more young athletes are suffering injuries to their knees

WFUV News—August 22, 2014

All this week, WFUV News is looking at a concerning trend affecting baseball players of all ages, from Little League to Major League Baseball. Today, we shift gears and look at an injury affecting young athletes in all different kinds of sports.

Research shows more teen baseball players are having arm problems and needing elbow surgery, but there's another serious injury impacting young athletes in multiple sports.

Studies show more teens are having knee injuries and needing to go under the knife. The most common issue for athletes is tearing the ACL, the ligament inside the knee joint that connects the thigh and shin bones.

Dr. Frank Cordasco, a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery, calls the rise of knee injuries in teens an epidemic.

"When I started training twenty years ago, having a kid come in with an ACL injury was unheard of," Cordasco said. "Now, we are seeing it a couple of times per week."

Read the full story on wfuv.org.