The Sports Medicine Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta offers comprehensive medical and orthopedic services to student athletes. It is one of only a few multidisciplinary programs in the country dedicated to the well-being of growing athletes like 16-year-old Denzel King who underwent knee surgery last summer.
Denzel injured himself in June 2019 during a basketball scrimmage at Buford High School, where he is a sophomore. He landed badly during a jump. He didn’t immediately go to the on-campus Children’s athletic trainers, which he now regrets, because two days later he heard a pop in his knee when running on the court.
There are more than 40 certified athletic trainers and 30 sports physical therapists at Children’s covering more than 20 high schools like Buford High and 20-plus club sports organizations throughout metro Atlanta, assisting in the care of student athletes like Denzel.
The athletic trainer checked out Denzel’s knee and referred him to S. Clifton Willimon, MD, a Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgeon at Children’s.
“It was hard to watch Denzel see the basketball season get started without him, but he’s done so well.”–Michele Earls, Denzel’s mom
Denzel was told he had an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and would need surgery. He underwent an arthroscopic procedure, which means a small camera and instruments were inserted through small incisions around the knee to perform the surgery.
But the July 3, 2019, surgery wasn’t the first time Denzel had undergone a surgical procedure at Children’s.
His mother, Michele Earls, said he was born with a clubfoot. He had surgery to repair the deformity while he was still an infant and wore braces until he was about 3 years old. “It’s a miracle he’s even able to play basketball today,” she added.
For Denzel, however, it was a game of mind over matter for him going into the surgery since he didn’t remember the one when he was little. “I wasn’t scared to have surgery, because I knew it was going to benefit me, but I was sad because I wouldn’t be able to play basketball for a while.”
“At Children’s, we use data and functional analysis to guide our athletes’ return to play rather than an arbitrary point in time.”–S. Clifton Willimon, MD, Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgeon
Recovering after ACL surgery
Denzel went home the same day as his surgery. He was on crutches the first couple of days, but started sports physical therapy at Children’s at Hamilton Mill in Dacula less than two weeks later.
“Physical therapy was nerve-racking at first,” Denzel admitted, “but once I had my first session and they were talking about my muscle definition being really good and having some form and definition in my legs, it gave me a boost and made me realize it wouldn’t be so bad.”
Denzel participated in sports physical therapy at Children's once a week and daily during his weightlifting class at school, working closely with a Children’s athletic trainer on campus.
The return to full, unrestricted play for Denzel is about nine months. However, Dr. Willimon said Children's uses functional testing, which is a series of tests administered by a physical therapist about six months after surgery when observing injured athletes like Denzel, so his timeline for returning to play could be shortened.
“This testing measures leg and knee function, and even mental readiness and confidence for returning to sports,” Dr. Willimon explained. “These results help us gradually return growing athletes to play over a three-month period, and most patients return to play nine to 12 months after surgery.”
Research has shown that rapid return to play for high school and college athletes at six months or sooner places many at risk for another knee injury.
“At Children’s, we use data and functional analysis to guide our athletes' return to play rather than an arbitrary point in time. Through these ongoing efforts, we can constantly improve surgical techniques, patient safety and ultimately the outcomes of treating our patients so that they can return to active and healthy lifestyles,” he concluded.
S. Clifton Willimon, MD, a Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgeon at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in advanced arthroscopic and reconstructive surgical techniques for the treatment of complex orthopedic disorders of the knee, hip, shoulder and elbow. He currently serves as Medical Director for Orthopaedic Quality and Outcomes at Children’s.
