![First BEAR Procedure Vail Valley Dr. Cunningham](https://k5k7bc.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/First-BEAR-Procedure-Vail-Valley-Dr.-Cunningham.jpg?time=1721764073)
Richard Cunningham, MD, a top knee and shoulder specialist at Vail-Summit Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery (VSON), is the first orthopedic surgeon in Colorado’s Vail Valley to complete the new Bridge-Enhanced ACL Restoration® (BEAR®) technique. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Cunningham has performed thousands of ACL reconstructions, and many primary ACL repairs. A primary ACL repair saves the native ACL instead of removing and reconstructing the ACL with a graft. This is the first time Dr. Cunningham has done an ACL repair augmented with the BEAR® implant. This advancement in surgical technology may provide an improvement in patient outcomes for primary ACL repairs.