An elite high-school gymnast, a 15-year-old patient was set to attend an NCAA Division I college on scholarship until she injured her back. The diagnosis was a lumbar disc herniation at L4-5 and a grade I isthmic spondylolisthesis at L5-S1 (acute fractures of the pars area causing L5 to slip forward on the S1 vertebra). After being told by multiple sports medicine specialists that her career was over, she was referred to Dr. Geraci.
At monthly intervals, the patient and her father drove up from Erie, PA. After a complete medical history and comprehensive musculoskeletal examination, including a functional evaluation, the athlete was then given a graded spine stabilization exercise program, to get her from where she was to where she needed to be to compete again. At each appointment, her father video recorded her treatments for follow-up physical therapy (PT) appointments back home. She was also placed in a brace for several month to allow the best chance for the pars fractures to heal.
The patient missed gymnastics in her junior year, therefore losing her potential scholarships. However, after competing her senior year, she tried out and became a walk-on (non-scholarship) member of the gymnastics team at the college of her choice, Penn State University. In her team profile, she told the story of her injury and thinking that she would never compete again until a medical spine specialist in Buffalo, NY got her back to the sport she loved.
The patient went on to have a very successful career at Penn State, including being the team captain her last two years. She also never missed additional time from gymnastics due to back problems. After college, she was inspired to enter the field of medicine as a physician assistant in her hometown of Erie. PA.
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