HJBR Jul/Aug 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  JUL / AUG 2022 39 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com Ochsner Uses NewMethod for Repairing Torn ACL Ochsner Baton Rouge Medical Director of Sports Medicine Jeremy Burnham, MD, recently used a breakthrough technology to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) – a debilitating knee injury that cannot heal on its own. The new procedure, which is still in clinical trials, uses the Bridge-Enhanced ACL Repair Implant, known as BEAR, a bioengineered material that provides an environment for the torn ligament ends to reattach themselves. The BEAR Implant procedure is minimally invasive. “The goal of ACL surgery is to restore the native knee anatomy and stability. Traditionally, this has been done by reconstructing the ACL,” said Burnham. “However, the BEAR ACL repair pro- cedure provides an alternative option by restor- ing the patient’s own ligament.” The ACL is located in the middle of the knee and helps connect the femur to the tibia. When ACL tears occur, they’re often the result of a quick pivot motion, changing direction or stop- ping suddenly, or when landing from a jump. About 400,000 ACL injuries occur each year in the United States. Since a torn ACL rarely heals without treatment, ACL reconstruction is one of the most common orthopedic procedures. In ACL reconstruction, the surgeon removes the entire torn ligament and rebuilds it with a tendon removed from the patient’s own leg in what is known as an autograft. In the new procedure, the small, cylindrical BEAR Implant device is filled with a small amount of the patient’s blood and placed between the ends of the torn ligament. The implant allows a clot to form and serves as a bridge for the torn ACL ends to grow back together. The benefit of the BEAR ACL repair technique is that it allows patients to keep their own ACL, instead of replacing it with separate tissue. Over time, the implant is absorbed into the patient’s body and replaced with native cells, collagen, and blood cells, repairing the tear and restoring the ligament’s original attachments to the femur and tibia. The BEAR implant and technique was pio- neered by Martha Murray, MD, at Boston Chil- dren’s Hospital, and the first human study was published in 2016. Follow-up clinical stud- ies showed further success, and the procedure was granted FDA approval in December 2020. While more studies are underway, the BEAR ACL implant procedure has shown significant poten- tial with younger athletes. Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Receives $85KACS Grant Some of the primary obstacles patients face fol- lowing a cancer diagnosis include how they will get to and from treatment and where they will stay if they have to travel for care. That hurdle is being made easier at Mary Bird Perkins Can- cer Center thanks to an $85,000 grant from the American Cancer Society. These dollars will be used across Cancer Center locations throughout southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi. This grant will make travel for treatment eas- ier for under-resourced patients, who are some- times under-insured or uninsured altogether. The average distance traveled for patients in need of transportation assistance is 40 miles. Through this grant, Mary Bird Perkins will provide at least 1,000 patients with transportation assistance, which includes gas cards, taxi rides, transit ser- vices, and access to rideshare support, such as Uber and Lyft. “Cancer patients already have enough on their plates when going through treatment,” said Angela Hammett, director, cancer navigation and support services, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Cen- ter. “By providing financial support to get them to and from their treatments, that’s one less thing for them to worry about.” This past year, the Cancer Center, across all of its locations, provided various forms of direct transportation assistance to nearly 3,000 patients, using previous American Cancer Society funding. Beyond transportation, a portion of the Amer- ican Cancer Society grant will go toward lodg- ing assistance for 60 patients who live more than 60 miles away from their treatment location. It is expected that this funding will allow for the expansion of lodging assistance to all Mary Bird Perkins facilities throughout southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi. “Financial hardship should not play a factor in the treatment a patient receives,” Hammett said. “Lodging assistance, up to five nights, can be provided to certain patients. That is just one more barrier we are able to remove, thanks in part to this grant.” For more information on available patient navi- gation services, visit www.marybird.org/services/ patient-navigation-and-social-services/. FranU Student Receives LAICU Scholarship for 2022 Nursing Student Jacob DeLaune was chosen by Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Univer- sity to receive the Norman C. Francis Scholarship awarded by Louisiana Association of Indepen- dent Colleges and Universities. Founded in 2014, the $3,000 scholarship is awarded to a student of a LAICU institution who exemplifies the qualities of leadership and ser- vice as continuously demonstrated by Norman Francis, JD, whose 46-year tenure as president of Xavier University of New Orleans earned him the distinction of being the longest-serving col- lege president in the nation. DeLaune is a fifth semester senior in the FranU BSN program. “I grew up in Gonzales with my mom, dad, and seven siblings. We were all raised in the Catholic church and being Catholic is a big reason I pursued FranU’s nursing program,” he explained. In March of 2015, his mom passed away due to childbirth complications while giving birth to his youngest sister Jennie. “This tragedy left my siblings and I without a teacher, as our mother was our primary home- school teacher. Me and my older brother contin- ued to homeschool with my older sister stepping in and teaching us through the rest of our time in high school. Through this time of hardship and grief, we were all able to continue to grow in our faith and trust in God.” Jeremy Burnham, MD