Media Coverage

Bicycling quotes John J. Leddy, clinical professor of orthopaedics and director of the UB Concussion Management Clinic at UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, in a story on how light aerobic activity — such as walking, running, stationary cycling, and swimming — may play a valuable role in shortening recuperation time during post-concussion recovery. “Although this strategy has not been studied as extensively in adults, I suspect that it applies to all ages,” says Leddy, first author of a recent study in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. “This clearly demonstrates that strict physical rest until symptoms spontaneously resolve is no longer an acceptable way to treat sport-related concussion in adolescents.” The new findings are the result of a large body of work by Leddy and colleague Barry S. Willer, PhD, professor of psychiatry and research director in the Concussion Management Clinic. MSN, Yahoo! Life and other publications also carried the story.​

An article in The Washington Post on treating teenagers after concussions quotes John Leddy, professor of orthopedics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and director of the UB Concussion Management Clinic. Leddy says aerobic exercise is "often the only treatment that adolescent athletes need.” “Teens assigned to the aerobic exercise group were much more likely to adhere to their regimen compared with the kids who stretched instead,” according to the article. That "speaks to another advantage of aerobic exercise," the researchers write: "Its appeal to adolescent athletes." The article and the study were reposted in Yahoo! Life, Northwest Arkansas Online, Irish Sun and numerous other outlets in the United States and worldwide.

Several news outlets reported on a new UB study that found that exercising within 10 days of a sport-related concussion speeds up recovery and reduces the risk of prolonged symptoms in adolescents. “We based our approach on how patients with heart disease are prescribed exercise, by identifying a safe threshold below which the patient can exercise,” explained John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and first author of the study.

An article on WBFO on treating teenagers after concussions interviews John Leddy, professor of orthopedics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and director of the UB Concussion Management Clinic. “The study takes advantage of the determined nature of young athletes, anxious to work really hard to make and stay on a sports team and to work as hard to recover from a concussion, starting within days of the injury, with medical clearance and supervision,” according to the article. "(It’s) a dose of exercise of medicine that's unique to each one of them. And I think that's largely why it works," Leddy said. "Remember you can use that obsession to your advantage because athletes are goal-oriented and now you've given them a goal to work to every day. If they do it every day, they have a goal and they have some control over their recovery."

Adolescents can speed their recovery after a sport-related concussion and reduce their risk of experiencing protracted recovery if they engage in aerobic exercise within 10 days of the injury, according to UB research. John J. Leddy, MD, first author and clinical professor of orthopaedics, was quoted as part of its coverage. “The study clearly demonstrates that strict physical rest until symptoms spontaneously resolve is no longer an acceptable way to treat sport-related concussion in adolescents,” said Leddy. Barry S. Willer, PhD, professor of psychiatry and senior author, was also quoted.

Medical Xpress, Technology.org, Futurity and other websites report that UB researchers have developed a brief, standardized physical exam for sport-related concussive brain injuries in children and adolescents that can readily identify who is at risk for persistent post-concussion symptoms. “The Buffalo Concussion Physical Exam takes less than 10 minutes to do and uses physician exam techniques that every clinician already has,” said M. Nadir Haider, first author and assistant director of research in the Concussion Management Clinic in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.

BioPrax, a product being developed by UB and Garwood Medical Devices that offers a less invasive, more effective treatment for prosthetic infections, was featured in the publication. Mark Ehrensberger, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering, helped develop the technology behind BioPrax, cathodic voltage-controlled electrical stimulation (CVCES). Ehrensberger is also director of the Kenneth A. Krackow, MD, Orthopaedic Research Laboratory in the Department of Orthopaedics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Doctors are hoping their patients will not delay scheduling an appointment for any of their medical issues as concerns linger about a second wave of coronavirus. If there is a second wave, Leslie J. Bisson, MD, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD Professor and chair of orthopaedics, hopes that shutdowns are not as aggressive as they were in March. The first wave shut down many elective surgeries that Bisson said, if done, would have prevented other health problems from developing.

A Buffalo News article on what people awaiting surgery can expect now that outpatient centers have reopened quotes Kevin J. Gibbons, MD, executive director of the UBMD Physicians’ Group and senior associate dean for clinical affairs in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “The popular term ‘elective surgery’ really means scheduled surgery. Many of these procedures are medically necessary and time-sensitive. If you have a pinched nerve in your neck and it's causing significant pain, that's one thing. But if it's causing significant weakness in your dominant arm, that's another thing, especially if that weakness could become permanent if you're not treated in the appropriate time frame,” says Gibbons, associate professor of neurosurgery at the Jacobs School and chief of neurosurgery at Kaleida Health. The article also quotes Michael A. Rauh, MD, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics.

Elective surgeries coming back to Erie County bring a sigh of relief for doctors who were frustrated that some health centers in the county were unable to conduct the surgeries despite no exposure to coronavirus. “It’s the right thing for our community,” says Leslie J. Bisson, MD, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD Professor and chair of orthopaedics. “It’s going to allow us to properly care for our patients, to be proactive in terms of managing the disease, to lessen the consumption of opioids for people with significant arthritic conditions, and to really alter their natural history in terms of lessening arthritis and other degenerative disease.”

Thousands of procedures in the county have been postponed by physicians since Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered a halt to non-emergency surgeries to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. “In the middle of March, we basically told patients, ‘You’re going to have to wait six to eight weeks while we prepare the hospitals for a potential tsunami of critically ill patients,’ which we’re lucky did not appear,” said Kevin J. Gibbons, MD, senior associate dean for clinical affairs, associate professor of neurosurgery and executive director of the UBMD Physicians Group. Many surgeons who perform procedures in outpatient centers also handle the same surgeries on higher-risk patients in hospital operating rooms. Leslie J. Bisson, MD, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD, Professor and Chair of orthopaedics is among those eager to resume them. “These are patients who are suffering,” he says.

A Buffalo News story on how orthopaedic physicians are increasingly using telehealth to help patients avoid going to the emergency room notes that UB is also using distance learning applications like Zoom to enable professors like Michael A. Rauh, MD, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics, to do virtual rounds with medical residents in hospitals.

A report on a study on the high school sports most likely to result in concussions and the effect of legislation on mandatory removal of players with signs of concussions interviews John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and director of the UBMD Concussion Management Clinic. “It’s been shown in college athletics that that introduction of the mandatory removal and then a return-to-play progression has really reduced the rate of recurrent concussions,” said Leddy, who was not involved in the study. “I think that's what's happening here in high school sports — that shows, I think, the legislation is having impact.”

A story reports on UBMD Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine’s Compassion project, which makes available grants to local charities. Leslie J. Bisson, MD, president, and June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, M.D. Professor and chair of orthopaedics said: “Through The Compassion Project, we’re able to assist organizations that are working to make Buffalo and the surrounding region better, and we’re proud to help these groups achieve their goals.”

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics, commented in a story on new legislation in the state requiring tackle football coaches to provide parents with information on concussions. “Education and raising awareness is good by large. We don't want to scare people too much, but we do want to alert them to what they should be looking for,” he said.