Dr. Sean Kumer, chief medical officer, Kansas City Division, The University of Kansas Health System
- For athletes, their health and fitness is everything, which is why an injury can be devastating, especially for young athletes.
- We’re learning today about how the keen eye and quick actions of an athletic trainer kept one high school athlete out of the operating room and back to sports quicker.
- This is a great example of how an athletic trainer from The University of Kansas Health System embedded at local high schools can help athletes avoid further injuries and get back to school activities faster.
Logan Mispagel, senior student-athlete, Olathe East High School
- During soccer practice, her foot got caught on the turf and caused immediate pain.
- She saw the athletic trainer, Erin, who is an employee of The University of Kansas Health System assigned to the school.
- She said she felt supported throughout the entire process.
- It was difficult mentally because she had to be on the sidelines while her teammates were playing. She said Erin was helpful with the mental health aspect too.
- She is now ready for basketball season and is eager to get back to sports.
Erin Washington, athletic trainer, The University of Kansas Health System
- Based on my familiarity with Logan, it didn’t seem like a typical ankle injury.
- As an athletic trainer embedded with the teams, we get to know the athletes and it becomes easier to tell when they might have an injury based on how they react after a play.
- I thought it may be a Lisfranc injury and we were able to confirm it early and stop it from getting worse.
- For her rehab, we did a lot of hand-eye coordination and foot agility.
- It’s great to see athletes who recover from injuries and get back to sports.
Dr. Bryan Vopat, orthopedic surgeon, The University of Kansas Health System
- A Lisfranc injury is a commonly misdiagnosed injury. Even on x-rays, the injury is often missed.
- It is an injury to the mid-foot and if bad enough, it can require surgery.
- Here at the Health System, we have a weight-bearing CT scan – we’re the only place in the region that has that.
- It can help better differentiate whether the Lisfranc injury is a stable injury like Logan had, or an unstable one that would require surgery.
- By identifying the unstable injury early, we were able to treat it to avoid surgery for Logan, which would have taken her out of athletic activities for about a year.
Dr. Thomas Katzfey, family and sports medicine physician, The University of Kansas Health System
- For Logan, the MRI showed a partial rupturing of the Lisfranc ligament.
- Getting Logan’s foot immobilized was the first thing we wanted to do so it didn’t progress and potentially worsen.
- She was in a boot for about six weeks before transitioning to a special shoe insole.
- We also started physical therapy to get her back into athletics safely.
- If there’s ever any question about an injury, have a conversation with your athletic trainer or come in and be evaluated.
- When we catch things early, we can really work on getting people back to their sport or activity a lot faster.
