Dr. Lowe

Cutting Edge Technique Improves Long-Term ACL Reconstruction Results

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT

For many athletes who experience debilitating injury to their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) – the ligament that keeps the knee in place – getting back to the same level of performance is difficult. But doctors at the Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine & Human Performance at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center offer an innovative surgery that can help these athletes return to play – and still maintain a healthy knee decades down the line. It’s called the double-bundle ACL reconstruction. Unlike traditional ACL surgeries, double-bundle ACL reconstruction recreates the normal anatomy of the ligament,explains Walter Lowe, M.D., co-medical director at the Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine & Human Performance at Memorial Hermann and chief of sports medicine, department of orthopaedic surgery, Baylor College of Medicine. This technique is supported by the biomechanical literature and has been performed in other countries for years with excellent results. Dr. Lowe,...

13-Mar-08 8:00 AM

A Biomechanical Wonder, 100 Times a Game

Fri, 04 May 2007 17:00:00 GMT

THE long spring windup is over. Major League Baseball begins its 2007 season tonight, and for the league’s 360 pitchers, the challenge not only will be to win, but to stay out of the doctor’s office over the course of the 162-game regular season. Using your arm to throw a baseball 95 miles an hour or more has long been considered about as natural an act for a human as flapping them while jumping off a cliff. Almost every pitcher in the major leagues undergoes surgery at some point in his career — often several times. Many sport six-inch scars running up their elbows and shoulders like luggage zippers, where ligaments and tendons have been relocated from remote bodily locales. Pitching is a biomechanical wonder, says Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. A ball thrown by a professional takes less than a half-second from the time of release until it slams into the catcher’s mitt some 60 feet away. Accelerating...

4-May-07 12:00 PM

Unique knee injury jeopardizes tackle's care

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:00:00 GMT

Texans rookie Charles Spencer has a metal plate and about eight screws in his knee. The fracturethat ended his season after just two starts has healed.

That doesn't mean the Texans will have their starting left offensive tackle back any time soon, though. In fact, what appeared to be a bright NFL future for Spencer is now in question because of cartilage around his knee that was damaged as a result of the injury.

"It's certainly an injury that threatens a guy's career, especially a guy like Spencer," said Dr. Walter Lowe, the team physician who performed Spencer's surgery Sept. 18. Among the 17 players who landed on injured reserve this season, Spencer has the injury — a fracture of the tibial plateau — that most concerns the Texans.

Read the Full Story
Source: Houston Chronicle

5-Jan-07 2:00 PM

Psychological Issues Related to Injury in Athletes

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:00:00 GMT

Team physicians must address the physical and psychological issues related to athletic activity. This athletic activity may result in physical injuries, and these injuries produce a variety of psychological reactions. Additionally, psychological factors, especially stress, are an important antecedent to injuries, play an important role in injury rehabilitation, and contribute to successful return to play. While noninjury psychological issues related to athletic activity exist, they are outside the scope of this consensus statement.

Download and view the Team Physician Consensus Statement

5-Jan-07 2:00 PM

Female athletes seeking an end to career-ending injury

noemail@drwaltlowe.com — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:00:00 GMT

AT RISK: FEMALE ATHLETES Seeking an end to career-ending injury As 4 players on Katy Taylors basketball team learned, ACL tears are devastating and debilitating. But proper training can reduce the risk. By JENNY DIAL Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Julie Krolls knee injury changed her outlook on basketball. Suffering the same injury twice in six months changed her outlook on life. --> I really miss playing basketball, Kroll, 18, said. But after I tried to come back a second time, I realized that I would like to be able to walk in 20 years. Athletes are susceptible to anterior cruciate ligament injuries because a tear can occur while changing directions, pivoting, jumping, slowing down from running and making horizontal movements. An ACL tear is a devastating and painful injury for anyone. But research shows that women are far more likely to be stricken. The NCAAs latest research findings are alarming: •About 2,200 female college athletes - one of 10 - tear an ACL...

26-Jul-06 8:00 AM

Texans team physician will operate on Walker

noemail@drwaltlowe.com — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:00:00 GMT

Green Bay - Green Bay Packers wide receiver Javon Walker has chosen Houston Texans team physician Walter Lowe to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will undergo surgery Friday in Houston. Walker said he decided to go with Lowe because he was part of a medical group that had operated on his right shoulder after the 2003 season. Lowe will be in charge of Walkers surgery and rehabilitation, which means the Packers will have a very limited role in overseeing his return to the football field. Even though Walker suffered the injury in the season-opener at Detroit on Sept. 11, surgery was put off until this week because of swelling in the knee area. It is expected that Walker will need six to 10 months to recover from the surgery, and he could miss all off-season activities. It is rare for Packers players to go outside the organization to have surgery, in part, because team physician Patrick McKenzie has such a good reputation. Since 2001, McKenzie has...

1-Oct-05 2:00 PM

Rockets optimistic about Sura’s knee
Team discloses no rehab timetable following surgery

noemail@drwaltlowe.com — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 03:00:00 GMT

Rockets guard Bob Sun on Thursday underwent what the team deemed to be successful arthroscopic knee surgery, though no estimates were made about when Sura could resume workouts.

Sura, 32, said Wednesday the condition in his right knee could be career- threatening, describing Thursday’s procedure to remove particles as the key to whether he could play again. But the Rockets were optimistic the surgery, his second since the end of the season, would correct problems.

“There were just a lot of particles left and there was a flap of cartilage in there and some little bony pieces that they took out,” Rockets trainer Keith Jones said. “They got everything cleaned up, and it’s just a matter of letting those bony surfaces heal. We just cleaned it out.

“Dr. (Walter) Lowe said he would wait until he sees him again (late next week) to put a timetable on everything. We just told Bobby it was going to be a slower rehab than we did this summer. We’re just going to take it slow and easy and when he’s ready, he’s ready.”

Jones said no other medical issues surfaced with Wednesday’s team physicals.
jonathanjezgen@chron.com

29-Sep-05 10:00 PM

Huber has a bum knee but a good heart
Cypress resident using time away to aid Katrina victims

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 19:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK - Liezel Huber was at her home in Cypress on Sunday, buried in Hurricane Katrina relief work and trying desperately to pretend the U.S. Open womens doubles final wasnt going on without her. I dont want to think about it, she said, because once I start to cry, I dont know when Ill stop. Five days after Huber and Cara Black won the Wimbledon championship - Hubers first major title - she blew out her knee in a World Team Tennis match and wont be able to return to the tour before January at the earliest, although the Nasdaq-100 in Miami in March seems a more realistic goal. Shes still in the early stages of rehabilitation after Walt Lowe, the Texans orthopedic surgeon, repaired the extensive damage about a month ago. Huber was, however, happy to hear that Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur had prevailed in her stead, beating Elena Dementieva and Flavia Penetta 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. Black and Renee Stubbs, reunited as partners with Huber out of commission, were eliminated in the...

12-Sep-05 2:00 PM

THE FINAL STEP TO PRESERVE A CAREER
Bagwell picks surgery
June shoulder procedure ‘last-chance option,’ but Astro hopes for ‘05 return

Mon, 16 May 2005 19:00:00 GMT

Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell said Sunday he will undergo an operation next month described as a last-chance option to repair his injured right shoulder and salvage his baseball career. If the procedure succeeds, Bagwell hopes to play the last month of this season and return for 2006, the final year of his contract. I have to do it, Bagwell said at a news conference before Sundays AstrosGiants game at Minute Maid Park. Its the only way I can continue to play this game. I want to play. I want to help the Houston Astros. It kills me that I cant play now, and I think the best chance for me to play again is to do the surgery. I owe it to the Astros, and I owe it to myself to get it done. Bagwell, 36, was placed on the 15-day disabled list last week with what was described as a right shoulder sprain. He has played for three years with pain and arthritis in the shoulder but said, It just got to the point now where I just cant do it. Team physician Dr. David Lintner, an...

16-May-05 2:00 PM