A new method of repairing a common type of knee injury in athletes shows promise, according to a new study.

The standard surgical treatment for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear is to reconstruct the ligament with a graft from the patient's hamstring or patella, The New York Times reported.

A team of Boston Children's Hospital doctors tried an experimental approach to reconnect the ligament. A blood-soaked sponge was placed between the two severed ends of the ligament and acted like a bridge to help the ligament grow back together over six to eight weeks.

Preliminary results after three months suggest that the new technique was successful in all 10 patients. It was the first time this approach -- called bridge-enhanced ACL repair -- had been tried in humans, The Times reported.

This was a preliminary study to assess the safety of the technique. The researchers plan to soon start accepting patients for a randomized trial to compare this ACL repair method with standard reconstruction surgery.

"This is definitely an advance," Dr. Jo Hannafin, a senior attending orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, told The Times. She was not involved in the study.

"I don't think we will know for three to five years whether this technique is really effective or not," Hannafin added.