Recognized as the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health, HSS will be an important ally of USYS and its 54 member State Associations. Ranked No. 1 for orthopedics 11 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report (2020-2021), HSS will help USYS deliver invaluable health information, resources and services to their members to aid in injury prevention, recovery and access to the latest in medical guidance.

The partnership will be led by an HSS Sports Medicine Council comprised of sports medicine surgeons Riley J. Williams III, MD, medical director for the New York Red Bulls (MLS) professional soccer team; Drs. Benedict Nwachukwu, MD, MBA, and Danyal H. Nawabi, MD, FRCS, team physicians for the New York Red Bulls, and Patrick Vignona, PT, sports rehabilitation and performance specialist.

Founded in 1863, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is the oldest orthopedic hospital in the United States. More than 32,000 surgical procedures are performed annually. HSS performs more hip surgeries and more knee replacements than any other hospital in the US.

This partnership will provide USYS with a singular musculoskeletal health partner so that its members can access the very best information and resources to improve, maintain and support their physical health. “USYS is on a mission to provide world-class support, resources and leadership, helping every member fulfill their goals on and off the field of play. HSS gives USYS an opportunity to deliver unparalleled physical health resources and benefits to our entire USYS Family,” said Skip Gilbert, CEO US Youth Soccer. “Doctors and physical therapists from HSS are team physicians and athletic trainers for some of the premiere professional and college sports teams in America. HSS experts, experience and medical information are unmatched and will allow our players and families to tap into the same state-of-the-art resources and technology that the pros get so they too can pursue their pathway to achievement.”

“HSS has a long-standing history of caring for elite and professional athletes. What we have learned from treating this population we have been able to apply to the development of young athletes, everything from the principles of injury prevention to proper movement patterns,” said Dr. Williams. “The USYS partnership will allow us to work in collaboration with its athletic directors, coaches, and trainers to effectively reduce sports-related injuries in adolescents.”

About the United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer)

US Youth Soccer, the largest youth sport organization in the country, is on a mission to provide world-class support, resources and leadership, helping every member fulfill their goals, on and off the field of play. US Youth Soccer registers nearly 3 million players annually. Through its programming, resources and leadership, US Youth Soccer is advancing the game for its 54 Member State Associations, 10,000 clubs and leagues and nearly 1 million administrators, coaches and volunteers. US Youth Soccer connects families and communities to the power of sports and its shared love of soccer. US Youth Soccer provides a path for every player, offering programs that provide a fun, safe and healthy environment for players at every level of the game. We Are Youth Soccer. For more information, visit www.usyouthsoccer.org.

“We are dedicated to providing outstanding medical care to elite athletes, and our designation as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence by the Feder the Fédération Internationale de Football Association recognizes our expertise and enthusiasm in treating professional soccer players,” said Dr. Williams. “With the new members of the medical team, we will continue to provide the high level of care Red Bull players depend on to be their best on the field and to get back in the game if they sustain an injury.”

A nationally recognized leader in cartilage repair and restoration, Dr. Williams specializes in knee, shoulder, and elbow surgery at the HSS Sports Medicine Institute. Along with the Red Bulls, Dr. Williams serves as medical director and head team physician for the Brooklyn Nets (NBA), Long Island Nets (G-League), and New York Liberty (WNBA), and as a team physician for USA Basketball.

The new members of the medical team are highly specialized in treating a wide range of orthopedic injuries.

Danyal H. Nawabi, MD, an orthopedic surgeon in the HSS Sports Medicine Institute, specializes in knee, shoulder, and hip surgery, including arthroscopic procedures and joint replacement.

Orthopedic surgeon Andrew J. Elliot, MD, treats conditions of the foot and ankle, including athletic injuries, bunions, tendon tears and ruptures, hammertoes, osteochondritis dissecans, fractures and arthritis.

Benedict Nwachukwu, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon and specialist in hip, knee and shoulder surgery at HSS. Along with the Red Bulls, Dr. Nwachukwu serves as a team physician for the New York Liberty and medical consultant for the National Basketball Players Association.

About the New York Red Bulls

The New York Red Bulls are one of 27 teams in Major League Soccer (MLS). RBNY, one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, have competed in the league since its founding in 1996. The Red Bulls play home matches at Red Bull Arena (RBA) in Harrison, New Jersey.The three-time MLS Supporters' Shield Winners are owned by the Austrian beverage company Red Bull for which the team is named. The New York Red Bulls offer one of the nation's premier youth soccer development programs, from local soccer partnerships across New York and New Jersey to Regional Development Schools and the Red Bulls Academy teams.

* Contracts are temporarily suspended. Will not be active for May 14 game against Indiana due to WNBA health & safety protocols.

The Liberty will return seven players from the 2020 roster, including Layshia Clarendon, Sabrina Ionescu, Jazmine Jones, Leaonna Odom, Kylee Shook, Kiah Stokes and Jocelyn Willoughby (out for season).

The 2021 Liberty will welcome veterans Betnijah Laney, Natasha Howard and Sami Whitcomb. The team will also feature 2021 draftees Michaela Onyenwere (No. 6 overall selection) and DiDi Richards (No. 17 overall selection).

New York’s coaching staff is led by second-year head coach, Walt Hopkins. Returning to the staff are assistant coaches Shelley Patterson and Dustin Gray, while first-year assistant coach and former WNBA player, Jacki Gemelos, will round out the Liberty’s staff.

In addition, the New York Liberty have announced their 2021 Medical Staff, in partnership with the team’s official hospital and medical provider, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS).

• Riley J. Williams III, MD, Sports Medicine Surgeon, Team Medical Director
• A. Holly Johnson, MD, Foot and Ankle Surgeon, Team Physician
• James N. Robinson, MD, Sports Medicine Physician, Team Physician
• Benedict Nwachukwu, MD, MBA, Sports Medicine Surgeon, Team Physician

The WNBA’s 25^th Anniversary season tips off on May 14 at 7 p.m., when the New York Liberty host the Indiana Fever to begin their inaugural season at Barclays Center; the game will be aired on YES Network and the YES App.
 

ABOUT THE NEW YORK LIBERTY

The New York Liberty was founded on October 30, 1996 and is one of three original franchises remaining in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Liberty have made four WNBA Finals appearances in its 24-year history. Owned by Joe and Clara Tsai, owners of the Brooklyn Nets, the Liberty will play its home games at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. For more information, please visit NYLiberty.com.

According to a paper published on January 31 in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, the factors that significantly predicted worse patient outcomes were anxiety and depression, duration of symptoms for more than two years before surgery, a high preoperative score on patient-reported outcome surveys and, surprisingly, receiving preoperative steroid injections.

“These findings are important from several perspectives. First of all, they demonstrate the value of integrating a machine-learning tool into clinical practice,” says first author Benedict Nwachukwu MD, MBA, a sports medicine surgeon and co-director of clinical research for the Sports Medicine Institute at HSS in New York City. “From a clinical perspective, our results reinforce that we should be screening for anxiety and depression. The symptom duration finding should encourage more payers and insurance companies to cover hip surgery for patients sooner, rather than keep them in prolonged conservative treatment. Finally, the risk associated with the use of preoperative injections is a novel finding that has not been reported very often in the literature.”

Dr. Nwachukwu helped design the study and developed the machine-learning algorithm in collaboration with a data scientist at PatientIQ, the company that provided the data analysis platform. He collaborated with colleagues at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. Senior investigator Shane J. Nho, MD, MS, hip arthroscopy specialist at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, performed the hip arthroscopy surgeries and provided the patient data. Dr. Nho was a resident in orthopedic surgery at HSS from 2003 to 2008.

Dr. Nwachukwu and colleagues built the machine-learning algorithm using electronic health record data for 898 patients with FAI who had hip arthroscopic surgery between January 2012 and July 2016 at Rush University Medical Center. All patients had completed three patient-reported outcome surveys before surgery and again two years after surgery: the Hip Outcome Score-Activities of Daily Living Subscale (HOS-ADL) ; the Hip Outcome Score-Sports Subscale (HOS-SS); and the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS). These subjective measures collect patients’ reports on their abilities to perform daily activities and sports activities and their overall hip condition, respectively.

The researchers determined the factors associated with achieving or not achieving the minimal clinically important difference in these patient-reported outcome measures and then analyzed the large dataset of patient information. In addition to identifying factors that predicted worse patient outcomes, the investigators found two variables that predicted achieving better results: running, at least at the recreational level, and being female.

This study is one of few reporting on the negative impact of preoperative steroid injections on patient-reported outcomes after orthopedic hip surgery. Patient response to steroid injections is a common diagnostic approach for confirming the hip joint as the location of the pain. Some insurance companies will not approve surgery for FAI unless a patient has had a diagnostic steroid injection first.

“Worse postoperative outcomes after the preoperative use of steroid injections may be due to poor healing of the labral tissue after exposure to steroid,” Dr. Nwachukwu says. “Our finding suggests that surgeons should consider the use of steroid injections judiciously. They have a role to play but using a purely anesthetic injection for diagnostic purposes may be a better option.”