Media Coverage

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics, is quoted in an Associated Press article about growing concerns in the National Hockey League about concussions and hits to the head after hundreds of documents were unsealed as evidence in a concussion lawsuit filed by former players.

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics, speaks on new methods for treating concussion, utilizing prescribed exercises targeting deficits in the vestibular and vision systems.

A new study in JAMA Pediatrics found that younger football players are more likely to return to the field less than a day after suffering concussions than those in high school or college.

The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine has awarded its Best Overall Research Award to John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and director of the UB Concussion Management Clinic, in recognition of research he presented at the society’s annual meeting titled “Predictors of Recovery in Adolescents with Acute Sports-Related Concussion.”

An article about new methods for treating concussion, utilizing prescribed exercises targeting deficits in the vestibular and vision systems, quotes John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics and medical director of the UB Concussion Management Clinic.

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics, and Barry S. Willer, PhD, professor of psychiatry, will use a five-year, $2 million National Institutes of Health grant to continue their studies of concussion protocols. They will enroll about 90 concussed teenagers in a clinical study to test whether the inability to exercise beyond a certain intensity — what clinicians call exercise intolerance — is a biological marker for concussion and a predictor of recovery time.

A story about the trend of allowing children to play one sport throughout the year interviews Leslie J. Bisson, MD, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD, professor and chair of orthopaedics and a sports medicine physician.

Sports injuries can have lasting effects, according to Leslie J. Bisson, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedics. He says arthritis can kick in 10 to 15 years after an initial injury occurs, so someone tearing an ACL when they’re in high school can have lingering pain when they’re in their mid-30s.

New U.S. Soccer rules prohibit “heading” the ball for players 10 and younger, but John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics, says prospective long-term control trials have yet to be conducted to define whether repeated concussions have any significant lasting effects on children.

The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation has given $4 million to the sports medicine program at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The money will establish the Center of Excellence in Sports Medicine, where physicians within the Department of Orthopaedics will help athletes and others who suffer concussions, injuries and other medical conditions associated with sports.

An Olean middle school teacher equipped her classroom with standing desks, which John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics says strengthens the muscles around the torso and core. “You use more muscles standing to maintain your posture,” he said. “Those are muscles that also burn calories.”

According to a study of retired NFL players, athletes who lose consciousness after concussions may be at greater risk for memory loss later in life. John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics, discusses the study’s reliance on players to report their own concussion history. “Retrospective recall of concussions by athletes is notoriously inaccurate,” he says.

Personal trampolines are accidents waiting to happen says Richard D. Galpin, MD, professor of orthopaedics. Safety net enclosures give a false sense of security since most injuries happen on the trampoline. “I would say in 19 of 20 cases there was more than one kid, or a parent, on a trampoline. There was a big person and a little person. The little person is the one who gets injured every time,” he said.

John J. Leddy, MD, clinical professor of orthopaedics, says that too much rest for concussion patients can actually worsen their symptoms. Recent research has shown that if you put patients on complete rest they actually report more symptoms than if they get back into their normal levels of activity, he said.

Leslie J. Bisson, MD, June A. and Eugene R. Mindell, MD, professor and chair of orthopaedics, urges discretion for those considering a new program that places knee surgery patients in flat rate "recovery suites." There is a higher rate of infection, blood clots and of having a heart attack during joint replacements. "You just want to make sure you're doing it in a safe patient population," he warned.