When Engineer Ashley Stevens accepted her first job at Arthrex Manufacturing Inc. in Ave Maria, Florida after graduate school, she knew she would be working on innovative products that support the company’s mission of Helping Surgeons Treat Their Patients Better™. But she never suspected she would become a patient who benefited from them herself. “It’s kind of a crazy, full-circle moment,” Ashley said.
A life-long athlete, Ashley started waterskiing competitively at age five. “My mom would hold me in her arms on water skis before I could even walk,” she said. As a student at Clemson University, she served as president of the waterskiing team, leading them to the collegiate nationals, in addition to racking up her own state and national medals along the way. She’s also an avid snow skier and volleyball player.
“I grew up playing traveling volleyball and then coached for a few years,” she said.
So, when she started working at Arthrex and found an employee volleyball league, she jumped at the chance to join. After years of playing competitive sports, Ashley says she was no stranger to ankle sprains and other injuries. But, right before Christmas, she took a tumble on the volleyball court, and immediately knew this was different. “My feet got caught up and I fell wrong,” she said, and it left her with a broken fibula.
She turned to orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon, Chris Hodgkins, MD* (Miami, Florida).
“Ashley got a 360-degree repair of her ankle, all done minimally invasively,” he said. With injuries like hers, surgeons often use a large incision to place a plate on the fibula to stabilize the fracture. In this case, he was able to repair her fractured ankle with a FibuLock®fibular nail: a cutting-edge, minimally invasive fixation device that stabilizes the fracture and is inserted through a small incision.
“Traditionally, she would have had a big open incision with a plate or plates and screws that would have left a scar and inhibited her recovery,” Dr. Hodgkins said. “Patients do not like that construct because they can feel it’s prominence, it can heal more slowly and there’s usually more post-op pain and patients can be off their feet much longer than with this new approach.”
To help support the repair in Ashley’s ankle, Dr. Hodgkins used two TightRope® XP implants, which consist of a suture secured between two metallic buttons against the tibia and fibula to treat her ligament injuries.
Prior to inserting the FibuLock nail, Dr. Hodgkins assessed her injuries using the Arthrex NanoNeedle scope - a small scope equipped with a bendable camera to allow surgeons a clear view of a patient’s injuries inside the ankle joint.
“The beauty of this equipment and technique is that there is rarely a need to remove hardware after the patient has healed. There are no screws to break and patients can regain normal movement of the ankle,” he said.
In Ashley’s case, she was fully weight-bearing in a walking boot in just six weeks and even back on the volleyball court in a brace 12 weeks after surgery.
“She was on my NFL athlete plan, but she pushed her recovery even harder,” Dr. Hodgkins said. “I trusted her to do it – she’s an engineer, so she understands the implants in her ankle.”
Just a few months after surgery, Ashley is working hard in physical therapy to regain her strength and mobility and says her recovery has been remarkable. “My ankle is very stable and I believe I will get back to all my activities again,” Ashely said. “I have to trust my body so much in my waterskiing events.”
Dr. Hodgkins has doubt that she will be able to do just that.
And that’s exactly why Ashley says she keeps her x-rays hanging up at her desk at Arthrex, as a reminder for herself and for her co-workers that what they do every day has a lasting impact on real people and improves the quality of their lives.
“It gives a great elevator pitch when people ask me what I do. The connection back to my own work is such a cool thing,” Ashley said. “I work on the products that are in my own ankle and are allowing me to get back to doing what I love.”
This is not medical advice and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by a surgeon or other qualified medical professional on the use of these products. You should talk with your physician or health care provider for more information about your health condition and whether Arthrex products might be appropriate for you. The surgeon who performs any surgical procedure is responsible for determining and using the appropriate techniques for surgical procedures on each individual patient. Arthrex recommends that surgeons be trained on the use of any particular product before using it in surgery. A surgeon must always rely on their own professional medical judgment when deciding whether to use a particular product when treating a particular patient. A surgeon must always refer to the package insert, product label, and/or directions for use before using any Arthrex product. Postoperative management is patient-specific and dependent on the treating professional’s assessment. Individual results will vary and not all patients will experience the same postoperative activity level or outcomes. Products may not be available in all markets because product availability is subject to the regulatory approvals and medical practices in individual markets. Please contact Arthrex if you have questions about the availability of products in your area.
Postoperative management is patient-specific and dependent on the treating professional’s assessment. Individual results will vary and not all patients will experience the same postoperative activity level or outcomes.
This real patient was compensated for the time she took to share her personal experience.
*Physician is a paid consultant of Arthrex, Inc.