INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An ACL tear is one of the most common knee injuries in the U.S., with between 150,000 and 200,000 happening each year. Primarily in professional and amateur athletes.

Until recently, patients undergoing reconstructive surgery had only two choices: use their own tissue for the repair or take it from a cadaver. But now, there’s a third option.

Kelis Guzman, 16, is recovering from an ACL tear. She tore it while playing a friendly game of soccer.

“I landed weird on my left knee, and so, then, I heard, like, a pop and a crack,” Guzman said.

Doctors gave her two surgical options – a bridge-enhanced ACL restoration, better known as a bear implant, or the traditional option, which involves …

“Taking another ligament from somewhere else, and then replacing it where the torn ACL, currently, is no longer there,” said Yair Kissin, Department Of Orthopedic Surgery Hackensack University Medical Center New Jersey.

Approved by the FDA in 2020, a bear implant doesn’t rely on human tissue, it’s made from bovine collagen to bridge the gap between the torn ends of a patient’s ACL.

The implant is absorbed by the body, which replaces it with its own tissue, eliminating the need to harvest a ligament from the patient’s, otherwise, healthy knee or rely on a cadaver part.

“There is some data that shows by preserving as much of the patient’s native ACL, you are also preserving some of those proprioceptive fibers that help with keeping a knee more stable,” Amit Merchant, chief of pediatric Orthopedic Surgery Hackensack University Medical Center.

Both options have the same nine-month to a-year recovery period.

So, Guzman – who hopes to play soccer in college – chose a bear implant because she didn’t want to use her own ligament. Aside from the stiffness associated with the procedure, she says the discomfort is minimal.

The bear implant isn’t an option for everyone. It’s indicated for skeletally mature patients who have some remaining ACL tissue.

This story was created from a script aired on WISH-TV. Health Spotlight is presented by Community Health Network.