Author: Elaine He

Congratulations to Dr. Brett Owens as Site Principal Investigator for full $4,000,000 funding of the Surgical Timing and Rehabilitation (STaR) for Multiple Ligament Knee Injuries Multicenter Clinical Trial by the Department of Defense. Rhode Island Hospital will be one of over twenty sites involved in this clinical trial, which is led by Principal Investigator Dr. James Irrgang at the University of Pittsburgh. The trial will focus on the effects of timing surgery and therapy for patients with multiligament knee injuries.

Steven F. Defroda, MD; Meng Kenneth L. Cameron, PhD, MPH, ATC;Matthew Posner, MD; Peter K. Kriz, MD; Brett D. Owens, MD. Bone Stress Injuries in the Military: Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention. Am J Orthop. 2017 July;46(4):176-183

“TAKE-HOME POINTS

• Stress injuries, specifically of the lower extremity, are very common in new military trainees.
• Stress injury can range from benign periosteal reaction to displaced fracture.
• Stress injury should be treated on a case-by-case basis, depending on the severity of injury, the location of the injury, and the likelihood of healing with nonoperative management.
• Modifiable risk factors such as nutritional status, training regiment, and even footwear should be investigated to determine potential causes of injury.
• Prevention is a crucial part of the treatment of these injuries, and early intervention such as careful pre-enrollment physicals and vitamin supplementation can be essential in lowering injury rates.”