The Lemaire Procedure : Fifteen Minutes to Reduce ACL Reinjury Risk by Nearly 80%

A knee injury is debilitating for anyone, both a humbling and painful reminder of how quickly our mobility can be compromised. For a dedicated athlete, it can be nothing short of life-changing. Reinjury rates for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury are high, and full recovery takes time and dedicated effort. That’s a scary prospect when you’re a seventeen-year-old soccer player already committed to a full athletic scholarship at your dream school.

At Fox Valley Orthopedics we’re fortunate to have several sports medicine specialists who routinely perform a procedure called the Lemaire LET, which stands for lateral extra-articular tenodesis. Performed in conjunction with an ACL reconstruction, it helps to ensure stability and prevent rotation in the tibia and knee. By grafting a harvested section of the patient’s iliotibial band to the area between the tibia and the femur, the ACL reconstruction is “reinforced” and the incidence of retear decreases significantly.

In a recent study conducted with elite Alpine ski athletes, having the LET performed alongside the ACL surgery resulted in a five-fold reduction in the rate of reinjury. Another advantage to this form of internal brace is that it adds merely fifteen minutes to the surgery and does not change rehab instructions or timeline in any way.

The LET procedure is a game-changer for any ACL injury, regardless of age. That said, young athletes stand to benefit the most. The typical person could be reasonably back to their previous activities in three months or so. An athlete will need between 8-12 months to get back to the level they were before. By reducing the possibility of reinjury, we’re able to keep young athletes playing their sport, not riding the bench for months at a time.

While LET has proven to be a successful addition to ACL surgeries, it is a procedure that many orthopedic surgeons simply do not offer. With a five-decade history as team physicians in our surrounding communities, it is vital to us that we take the best possible care of our youth athletes. We’re fortunate to have watched many players grow up and bring in their own kids. We truly want to do our best for our patients – if that means your surgery is so successful you never need us to do it again, we’ll know it was a job well done.

For more information on the Lemaire LET procedure and the physicians who perform it, please contact us at 855-386-7846.