Sports Medicine
Collaborations Aid Weekend Warriors, Elite Athletes
by Pat Grauer
Douglas Dietzel, DO: New Techniques for Joint Health
From treating unstable shoulders to giving patients more control over their pain, Douglas Dietzel, DO, is actively developing important collaborations in research relevant to sports medicine.
An orthopedic surgeon and assistant professor of osteopathic surgical specialties, Dr. Dietzel works actively in MSU’s Sports Medicine Clinic and is coordinator of the May 12-13 "Sports Medicine 2000" conference offered by MSUCOM (see page19).
He’s participating in the following research initiatives
- A completed pilot study on thermal capsulorraphy of the shoulder has led to $15,000 funding from the Arthroscopy Association of North America for further research. Working with Steven Arnoczky (Veterinary Medicine) and Lee Bennett (Radiology), Dr. Dietzel has discovered a way to use heat probes to shrink the capsule of the shoulder with scar tissue to remedy joint instability
- The effect of knee braces in preventing football injuries is being studied with Jeffrey Monroe (Kinesiology) and John Powell (IM Sports and Recreative Services).
- Dietzel is investigating the use of a patient-controlled analgesic device to inject pain medication directly into the affected joint, particularly for use after anterior cruciate ligament repairs.
Roger Haut, PhD: Eclectic Studies to Keep People Moving
What
do heel doughnuts, an over-the-counter joint remedy, and swine intestines
have in common?
They’re all part of the daily work of MSUCOM researcher Roger Haut, professor of osteopathic surgical specialties, osteopathic manipulative medicine, and materials science and mechanics, College of Engineering.
Dr. Roger Haut is a man with passions that are reflected in all of these departmental appointments. He maintains several research projects, the common theme of which is their importance to human biomechanics and health.
Among his projects are
- Ten years of research on running shoes, hiking boots and work boots, including comparative studies for companies such as Wolverine World Wide, Nike and Reebok. His work has included measuring shock absorption of heel inserts and elastic recoil after flexion of the sole. In addition, he’s been evaluating factors such as increase in friction inside a shoe, causing blisters, when heat builts up and water is retained by new synthetic materials
- Ten years of work with the Centers for Disease Control, funded in excess of $2.5 million, on the mechanics of osteoarthritis. Dr. Haut has found that if loads are too high on joints, microdamage to cartilage and bone can cause osteoarthritis, and that this damage can be identified by biochemical markers in urine. In addition, Dr. Haut is evaluating the effect of injecting polysufated glucosaminoglycan, (akin to the popular non-prescription remedy glucosamine), into damaged joints and is finding it, at least at eight months’ assessment, "surprisingly effective" in preventing degeneration
- Six years of work with DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, on an engineered material made of swine intestinal submucosa. This material, which is woven, is primarily collagen and has the property of attracting cells which are needed for the remodeling of tissues in the body. Initial studies in goats, for example, are showing that this material, when used to replace a ligament in their "knees," is highly promising. It may also have applications in other soft tissue procedures, such as rotator cuff tears and bladder suspensions.