reconstructive ACL surgery

Young athletes perform much better after reconstructive surgery on a torn ACL using allografts (tissue from a cadaver) versus autografts (the patient's own tissue), a first-ever study finds.

A review of studies evaluating various therapies utilized in rehabilitation from anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery provides additional support for guidelines issued by a multi-center group of 20 clinicians in 2001 (dubbed the MOON guidelines, and establishes that most have a sound basis in science.

Female adolescent soccer players who followed a 15-minute neuromuscular warm-up program twice a week in training over the course of a season experienced a 64% reduction in the rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury compared to players who did not follow such a program, according to a 2012 Swedish study.

Young athletes who delay ACL reconstructive surgery more than 150 days after injury experience higher rates of other kinds of knee injuries, including medial meniscal tears, say a 2012 study.

Less than half of athletes return to their pre-injury level or to competitive sports in the period 2 to 7 years after ACL reconstruction surgery, although younger athletes return at a higher rate.  Return to sport at 12 months was not predictive of participation at the pre-injury level in the medium term, reports a new Australian study.

Male athletes are at increased risk of cartilage lesions in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-injured knees, placing them at higher risk of developing the debilitating joint condition osteoarthritis (OA), says a new study presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's 2011 Annual Meeting in San Diego.  A delay to reconstructive surgery did not increase the risk of developing full-thickness cartilage lesions, as long as surgery occurred within 12 months of injury. 

A new Australian study appears to pour cold water on the widely held belief that most athletes can return to their pre-injury level of competition within 12 months after reconstructive surgery to repair an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.  Instead, fully two-thirds of the athletes studied were found not to have returned to their pre-injury level of competition one year after surgery.

The period between the end of physical therapy and the start of sports-specific conditioning is a critical time frame for young athletes after an an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear or rupture, reconstructive surgery, and months of rehabilitation.