Sports Surgery

Our specialist practice team are dedicated to treating athletic injuries of the musculoskeletal system, with a special focus on shoulder and knee injuries.

We have treated more than 12,000 patients, involving both surgical and non surgical care. Our practice team have experience across a wide range of national and international institutes, and we work closely with many high level amateur and professional teams. We have a strong focus on basic and clinical research with special focus on cartilage regeneration, the ACL and shoulder.

ACL reconstruction is surgery to reconstruct the torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) — one
of the major ligaments in your knee. ACL injuries most commonly occur during sports
that involve sudden stops and changes in direction — such as gaelic games, rugby,
basketball, soccer, football, tennis, downhill skiing, volleyball and gymnastics.

In an ACL reconstruction, the torn ligament is removed and replaced with a piece of tendon from
another part of your knee (patella tendon/quad tendon/hamstring tendon). This
surgery is a procedure that is performed through small incisions around your knee joint.

Professor Moran performs hundreds of ACL reconstructions annually and our specialist team
continue to analyse our research data to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients
with this injury. The details of your ACL reconstruction will be discussed in detail by
Professor Moran and his specialist team.

Please visit our Knee Procedures page for an animation of this procedure. 

Shoulder instability can result in shoulder dislocation (separation of the humerus head from the socker), subluxation (partial separation of the humerus from the socker) and labral injuries (tears/detached). Shoulder dislocation is most often caused by a direct trauma that forces the humeral head out of the socket. 

Shoulder instability may occur repeatedly which can lead to the capsule, ligaments or labrum being stretched, torn or detached from the bone. Patients can also experience a feeling of instability without true dislocation occurring at each event. Repeated dislocation can cause increased wear in the shoulder joint and reconstruction in usually recommended in these situations or for those that have failed conservative treatment.

Surgical treatments include labrum repair or laterjet stabilisation which utilises a bone graft to stabilise the shoulder. Professor Moran will discuss the most appropriate surgical procedure for your injury with you in detail. 

In addition to our clinical practice being led by Professor Moran, Consultant Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine surgeon, we utilise a team approach of specialist support care to ensure you recieve the highlest level of care possible. This includes nationally and internationally trained clinical specialists in physiotherapy, rehabilitation, medical and nursing care. These clinical specialists will be available to support you in all surgical and non-surgical management plans you have under our care.

Injuries can be devastating for athletes at any level—not just the pros.  When playing a particular sport makes up so much of a person’s identity (and takes up so much of their free time), it’s understandable that the drive to get back in action can be so strong. But it’s vitally important to manage your recovery and return to play thoughtfully, both to allow an injury to adequately heal and to lessen the chance that it will reoccur—or cause you to injure something else. We will support and guide you through this process.

Experiencing an injury and handling the physical and emotional aspects of recovery can be challenging. The mental impact of injury on athletes is an important aspect of high level care.

Every player and every injury is different. We take a multidisciplinary approach to deal with this alongside an objective approach to a  injury by focusing on the specifics of the injury itself, proper diagnosis, quality of movement during recovery, rehabilitation  progress and capability of returning to play, alongside strategies in mental readiness and preparation

Professor Moran completed his training in the Orthopaedic Sports Medicine and Shoulder Fellowship at Hospital for Special Surgery and Cornell Medical College in New York, the Cartilage Repair Centre at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and Antwerp Orthopaedic Centre in Belgium.  He has worked extensively with professional athletes and teams across Ireland, the US and Europe.

He is a Principal Investigator at Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, RCSI Bioengineering and AMBER research centres, as well as a lead surgeon for SSC’s participation in international multi-centre clinical trials. He links this research to the development new options for cartilage and ligament injury at UPMC Sports Surgery Clinic. He has published over 50 papers and given over 200 presentations.