As a high school volleyball and basketball player, Sarah A. Eaton, PT, DPT, ATC, LAT, had a few minor injuries. Eaton went to see the athletic trainer and physical therapist who cared for students at Bishop Leurs in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “I was fascinated by how he could ask you some questions and do tests and know what was going on and what to do about it,” says Eaton, who is a physical therapist and athletic trainer at Shelbourne Knee Center.
Hooked on Athletic Training and Physical Therapy
After observing the school’s athletic trainer and physical therapist in his outpatient clinic, Eaton was hooked. She knew she had found her calling.
At the University of Indianapolis, Eaton earned her BS in athletic training and then her DPT. During her athletic training program, Eaton worked with male and female athletes in a variety of sports, focusing on men’s basketball during her senior year. After earning her doctorate in physical therapy, Eaton went to work as a physical therapist at Indiana University. On weekends, she worked as an athletic trainer at tournaments.
“I saw my fair share of knee injuries, but I was seeing anything and everything that walked through the door. I wasn’t really an expert in anything,” says Eaton.
An Expert in Knee Care
That changed in 2015 when Eaton joined Shelbourne Knee Center, where she became an expert in knee injuries and conditions. During the three-month plus orientation, Eaton learned Shelbourne Knee Center’s research-based physical therapy protocols and observed all aspects of patient care, including on-site X-rays, surgery and research.
Eaton enjoys being an expert in knee care. “I can truly take a patient through his or her care from start to finish,” she says. “It’s comforting for the patient to see that I know what I’m doing.” Eaton is one of eight physical therapists and athletic trainers at Shelbourne Knee Center.
Combining her skills as an athletic trainer and a physical therapist enables Eaton to help her patients get back to sport—or to their daily lives—as fast as is safely possible. “The athletic trainer mindset helps facilitate getting the patient better as soon as I can, and my physical therapy expertise gives me more tools to do this.”
Research on ACL Reconstruction
Like all of the physical therapists at Shelbourne Knee Center, Eaton participates in the research program, which tracks patient outcomes and studies factors related to those outcomes. Data covering 37 years of patient care are used in continually improving treatment for knee problems.
Eaton also conducts her own research. Recently, she studied the effect of knee range of motion (ROM) on return to full quadriceps strength in 978 patients who underwent primary ACL reconstruction using a contralateral PTG.1
Key Findings:
- 891 patients had normal ROM and 87 patients had abnormal ROM at 1-year post-op
- Compared to patients with abnormal ROM, patients with normal ROM had:
- More symmetrical strength between the knees
- Stronger quadriceps
Read more about this study.
In 2019, Eaton presented her research at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting and at Community Health Network’s 4th Annual Multidisciplinary Symposium at the University of Indianapolis. She is currently studying the re-injury and return to sport rates after ACL reconstruction in school-age patients (under age 18) treated at Shelbourne Knee Center.
For more information about physical therapy at Shelbourne Knee Center, call 888-FIX-KNEE.
References
- Eaton S. Effect of Knee Range of Motion on Return to Full Quadriceps strength at 1 year Post-op Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction with Contralateral Patellar Tendon Graft. American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting, January 2019, Washington and Fourth Annual Multidisciplinary Scholarly Activity Symposium, Indianapolis, May 8, 2019.