Dr. Stephanie Filbay's research shows that how we treat ACL injuries in Australia doesn't always follow the best evidence, and some ACL tears can heal without needing surgery.
Dr. Filbay's goal is to make treating knee injuries better and to prevent knee arthritis after injuries. She'll talk about the latest research on whether surgery or exercises are better for ACL injuries and challenge some common ideas.
Dr. Filbay is a physiotherapist herself and a top researcher at the University of Melbourne. She's received grants to study new ways to treat ACL tears without surgery and to help patients decide on their treatment.
She's done surveys and interviews with over 1000 patients and physiotherapists to understand how ACL injuries are managed in Australia. Her research showed that many patients aren't told about all their treatment options, and surgery is often seen as the best choice, even though exercises can work just as well.
Dr. Filbay wants physiotherapists to be able to give patients the right information, so they can choose the best treatment for them. She's working on an online tool to help patients decide on their treatment, and she's creating a course to help physiotherapists learn more about treating ACL injuries.
She's also studying a new way to treat ACL tears called the Cross Bracing Protocol. This method aims to help ACL tears heal naturally, and early results look promising.
Before joining the University of Melbourne, Dr. Filbay worked at the University of Oxford and earned her PhD from the University of Queensland. She's known worldwide for her research on ACL injuries and has received many awards for her work.
Her research is important because ACL injuries can lead to knee arthritis, and finding better ways to treat them can improve people's lives and reduce the burden on society.
The study talks about how to help people who have had an ACL injury get back to normal activities and sports. It says that whether someone gets surgery or just does exercises, the results are similar in the long run. The most important thing is to make sure the knee works well, help people feel confident about being active again, and prevent more injuries or knee problems later on.
After an ACL injury or surgery, the rehab should be tailored to each person and based on specific goals. Returning to sports should be gradual and based on how well the knee is healing, how the person feels mentally, and how the body is recovering. Athletes who want to go back to sports that involve quick movements should meet certain criteria to lower the risk of getting hurt again.
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