Gia Balsamo

Gia is a 15 year old level 9 gymnast with USA Gymnastics. In July 2017 Gia was performing a Tsuk on Vault and after she landed her knee swelled. She had an MRI and we immediately sent the results to Dr. Peter Fabricant. He said she dislocated her knee and it went back in place but a 1 cm piece of bone was loose in the joint. He recommended reconstruction of the MPFL ligament and reattaching the fragment with dissolvable pins. It was a tough decision of whether or not she should have the ligament reconstruction but we trusted Dr. Fabricant's recommendation. This would give her the best chance to return to gymnastics and not redislocate her knee in the future and risk further damage. We are so happy we followed his treatment plan. Gia was back on the gymnastics floor at 4 months after surgery and fully cleared for all activity by 6 months. Gia qualified for the USAG level 9 State Championship this year. She was so thrilled to be back on the podium this season medalling on the uneven bars and placing 7th in the state for her age division.