HealthDay TV: Kids and Sports

Kids and sports: as American as apple pie. But experts from the American Orthopaedic Society say an increasing number of participating children are getting hurt each year... And a wait and see approach may well be a mistake when it comes to an injured youth, according to a new study, presented at their Sports Medicine meeting this week.
Researchers analyzed the records of 69 patients...14 years old or younger...who had undergone knee surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament...or ACL. They found that a delay in treatment of more than 12 weeks led to an 11-fold increase in other - sometimes irreparable - knee injuries. Issues with instability in the knee were also much more frequent. These findings highlight the risks associated with delaying ACL reconstruction in our young athletes, as well as the importance of prevention.
Get educated on how to best prevent sports injuries, talk to your child about it, and should injury occur - run don't walk to your sports medicine specialist and optimize your child's chances at best outcome. I'm Dr. Cindy Haines for HealthDay TV.