The Gloucester County Times published an article about Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), a therapeutic method being utilized at Cooper, that uses a person’s own blood to combat chronic pain caused by progressive joint damage. The platelets in blood, which usually help with the clotting process after a cut, can promote healing when concentrated and injected directly at the site of damaged tissues.

“There’s no more risk than getting a blood draw or a flu shot,” said David Gealt, DO, sports medicine specialist at Cooper Bone & Joint Institute. “There aren’t really many side effects because it’s your own blood.”

To read the complete article visit www.nj.com.

Injuries and sports go hand-in-hand, which is why WIP/Philadelphia has turned to the Cooper Bone and Joint Institute over the past few months for answers to the sports medicine questions on every listener’s mind.

Why do concussions appear to be more common in pro sports? Will that quad strain keep the Eagles’ wide receiver from playing on Sunday? What’s a hip flexor and what is the timetable for return to activity after injury?

Click below to hear Drs. Miller, Gealt and Pollard as they talk sports medicine on 610 WIP.

The Burlington County Times featured an article about the Cooper Bone & Joint Institute’s free educational forum on concussions as a result of sports related injuries. The forum, which took place at Moorestown High School on Wednesday, September 1, 2010, focused on prevention and identification of concussions as well as available treatment options.

“Unreporting is going to be a very big problem this year,” said R. Robert Franks, DO, Director, Concussion Program and Assistant Director of Sports Medicine at Cooper’s Bone & Joint Institute. “And it’s really going to depend on everyone, from athlete to coach to athletic trainer to parent to let us know. The key to this is, if we handle concussion No. 1 and No. 2 right, hopefully we’ll never get to No. 4, 5 and 6.”

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FREE Program Scheduled for September 1 at Moorestown High School

Sports medicine professionals from the Cooper Bone & Joint Institute of Cooper University Hospital are advising parents, athletes and coaches to educate themselves about head injury and concussion before the start of the fall and winter sports seasons. They also recommend baseline brain function testing for all athletes prior to the season, and within days after a head injury.

“The diagnosis and treatment of concussions and their long-term effect on athletes continues to be an evolving discipline,” explains R. Robert Franks, DO, Assistant Director of Sports Medicine and Director of the Concussion Program at the Cooper Bone & Joint Institute. “It’s very important that people recognize the signs and symptoms of concussion and take appropriate steps to manage the injury.”

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Sports-related concussion has been a hot topic recently, but competitive athletes are not the only people who suffer from these serious injuries.  Each month, hundreds of patients are treated in Cooper’s Emergency Department and Trauma Center for mild to severe concussions, and many more seek treatment from various Cooper outpatient offices.  Now, they will be evaluated using ImPACT™ (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), the same scientifically-validated computerized concussion evaluation system used by Cooper’s Sports Medicine physicians to evaluate competitive athletes with head injuries.

ImPACT™, the first, most-widely used concussion evaluation system, was created as a screening tool to assist sports medicine professionals in evaluating athletes after a suspected concussion.  It helps physicians evaluate and document multiple aspects of neurocognitive functioning including memory, brain processing speed, reaction time, and post-concussive symptoms.  Almost four years ago, Cooper’s Sports Medicine orthopaedist David Gealt, DO, became certified to use ImPACT™.  Today, Cooper is training an additional 20 inpatient and outpatient physicians and allied health staff from a variety of disciplines including Emergency Medicine, Trauma, Neurology, Neuropsychology, Neurosurgery Orthopaedics, Pediatrics, and Physiatry.

“This is an important step for Cooper’s Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury Program in becoming one of  the most comprehensive programs in the region,” explains Warren Goldman, MD, PhD, Director of the Cooper Neurological Institute (CNI) and Chief of Neurosurgery at Cooper.  “Concussions can happen to anyone at any time, and now we will be giving the same attention to these potentially serious brain injuries among average people as we do with competitive athletes.”  Dr. Goldman cites falls, car or bike accidents, and violence as common causes of concussions.

In addition to training a team of medical experts, the ImPACT™ system is being migrated to a web-based system at Cooper, allowing patients’ primary care physicians or other specialists to have access to the tests.  This improved communication will allow physicians to make better future treatment decisions for their patients.

The Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury Program is part of the Cooper Neurological Institute, a multi-disciplinary, collaborative center with programs ranging from seizure disorders, pituitary and brain tumors, spinal surgery, and the Cooper Bone & Joint Institute, which oversees our sports medicine program.