ISTANBUL 

Turkish surgeons are gaining international attention for developing an implant-free technique to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), now being adopted in global orthopedic practice.

The surgical technique known as the Kocabey Press Fit method is helping patients recover more quickly and is drawing increasing attention from foreign physicians, who are traveling to Türkiye to observe the procedure firsthand.

Developed three years ago by Dr. Yavuz Kocabey, president of the Turkish Society of Sports Injuries, Arthroscopy and Knee Surgery (TUSYAD), the technique is gaining international recognition as a single-session method for ACL repair.

Doctors from Romania and Greece recently visited Türkiye to observe a live surgery using the technique, performed by Kocabey together with Dr. Cemil Erturk, head of the Orthopedics and Traumatology Department at Kanuni Sultan Suleyman Training and Research Hospital, and his team.

Faster recovery, fewer complications

Kocabey told Anadolu that he has been using the technique for the past three years, applying it to nearly 500 patients, and that the method does not involve the use of implants, significantly reducing the risk of bleeding and swelling while enabling patients to recover with minimal pain.

He emphasized that patients can move comfortably soon after surgery, with the ability to bend their knee up to 90 degrees the day after the operation.

“Previously, the Bone-Patellar tendon-bone (BTB) method was considered the gold standard for years. Compared to those techniques, our method offers a much faster recovery,” Kocabey said.

He added that the technique, which now bears his name in medical literature, will also be presented next month at a medical meeting in Poland. “We are proud to see a surgical technique developed in Türkiye spreading around the world.”

Method in international literature

Erturk noted that the method has been used at their clinic since its development, delivering successful results.

He said the technique was designed to overcome the limitations of the two main existing ACL reconstruction methods while combining their advantages.

“It has now been published in international literature and has been accepted globally,” Erturk said.

He added that the method has already been introduced at several training and research hospitals across Türkiye. “We are now entering a new phase,” he said. “International colleagues are coming to observe the operations in person, allowing them to ask questions and see the technique firsthand objectively in the operating room.”

“Our goal is for this method to become widespread worldwide,” Erturk said.