Persuasive Speech
Madison Leek
Professor Smiley
Speech 1113
27 October 2014
Persuasive Speech When signing up to be an organ donor you usually think only your major organs will be used; however, something as small as a ligament of yours is used in popular surgeries such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions. When someone tears their ACL they usually have a choice to have an autograft, or use one of their own ligaments, but they can also choose to have an allograft, or take a cadaver’s ligament to repair it. Each has it’s advantages and disadvantages, but I personally think that the better option is the allograft because I think the advantages are better than using your own ligament from another part of your body. The advantages consist of faster operative time, less post-operative pain, and a faster recovery time. When taking a cadaver’s ligament it decreases the time of the operation. Since the surgeon doesn’t have to take time to harvest and prepare the allograft as he or she would have to do with an autograft it saves a little time. The big time saver though is not having to make two different incisions and not having to cut the tendon that would be taken from the patient. This advantage is perfect for the many people who can’t be under anesthesia for that long (Cluett). Since the operative time is faster due to not having to make two different incisions, the pain after the operation is a lot less painful than the autograft. Less post-operative pain is due to no incisions in the patellar tendon or the severing of the hamstring tendon to obtain the graft. The only pain you will be left with is the actual site of the ACL rather than additionally having pain in the tendon that would have been cut. Janice Lloyd, the medical reporter from USA Today states, when using a cadaver ligament the incision is usually smaller thus creating less pain on the incision site (Lloyd). Lifting of the leg is much easier and a lot less painful since the hamstring was not
Professor Smiley
Speech 1113
27 October 2014
Persuasive Speech When signing up to be an organ donor you usually think only your major organs will be used; however, something as small as a ligament of yours is used in popular surgeries such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions. When someone tears their ACL they usually have a choice to have an autograft, or use one of their own ligaments, but they can also choose to have an allograft, or take a cadaver’s ligament to repair it. Each has it’s advantages and disadvantages, but I personally think that the better option is the allograft because I think the advantages are better than using your own ligament from another part of your body. The advantages consist of faster operative time, less post-operative pain, and a faster recovery time. When taking a cadaver’s ligament it decreases the time of the operation. Since the surgeon doesn’t have to take time to harvest and prepare the allograft as he or she would have to do with an autograft it saves a little time. The big time saver though is not having to make two different incisions and not having to cut the tendon that would be taken from the patient. This advantage is perfect for the many people who can’t be under anesthesia for that long (Cluett). Since the operative time is faster due to not having to make two different incisions, the pain after the operation is a lot less painful than the autograft. Less post-operative pain is due to no incisions in the patellar tendon or the severing of the hamstring tendon to obtain the graft. The only pain you will be left with is the actual site of the ACL rather than additionally having pain in the tendon that would have been cut. Janice Lloyd, the medical reporter from USA Today states, when using a cadaver ligament the incision is usually smaller thus creating less pain on the incision site (Lloyd). Lifting of the leg is much easier and a lot less painful since the hamstring was not