Bergen Girl Gets NJ's First ACL Repair Implant In Hackensack

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — When Kelis Guzman tore her ACL playing soccer, she was told that she'd need not only months of physical therapy but also that she'd have to wear a brace every time she returned to the field, according to a release.

Her doctor in Hackensack told her about a new procedure that would help her knee to heal on its own. She agreed, as all she wanted was to get back to her sport and her old self. Though she now walks on crutches, she is expected to play again by December.

"I feel pretty good knowing I’ll have my own ACL back," said Guzman, who is from Hasbrouck Heights. "I’m so grateful I was able to have (this procedure done)."

Referred to as an alternative to traditional reconstruction — which would have grafted on a piece of her own tendon — the "BEAR implant" promotes the body's own ability to heal in joining the ends of the injured ligament, the release said.

"It's not just sewing two ends of the ligament back together, but rejuvenating the healing process and getting a patient back to 100%," said Guzman's doctor Amit Merchant, an orthopedist at Hackensack University Medical Center. "This technique is a way to restore a patient's native ACL."

In addition, the implant leaves nerve endings in the ACL, whereas traditional reconstruction removes them, and will hopefully give athletes a better sense of how to move through space to prevent further injury, the HUMC said the release.

Conventional reconstruction can also leave a patient with pain where the tendon was retrieved, according to Merchant, who performed the procedure.

Following Guzman's operation, she went home the same day and was able to put weight on her leg. She started physical therapy a week later, and, within six weeks, was up to three weekly sessions. Her range is motion is returning, and in just a few months, she is expected to be back on the soccer pitch.

BEAR (Bridge Enhanced ACL Restoration) is a spongy collagen implant that is infused with a patient's blood, and, within eight weeks, is resorbed and replaced with a person's natural cells, collagen and blood vessels. The new tissue continues to rebuild itself and strengthen over time, HUMC said in the release.

BEAR, the elite soccer player Guzman said, will help increase her chance of playing Division 1 soccer in college, and once she was told about the implant, she noted it sounded "super cool."

"(BEAR) is another example of our leadership in orthopedics and our commitment to offering the most advanced treatments to the people of New Jersey and surrounding areas," HUMC Dr. Merchant said.