Purpose
To determine whether the length of time between primary anterior cruciate ligament
reconstruction (ACLR) and return to sport (RTS) predicted the need for revision ACLR
in National Football League (NFL) athletes.
Methods
All NFL players who underwent ACLR from 2009 to 2015 were identified. The date of
index ACLR and date of return to NFL regular-season game play after surgery were recorded.
The length of time between ACLR and RTS was compared between players who required
revision ACLR and those who did not. Correlation coefficients were used to assess
whether players who RTS sooner sustained recurrent anterior cruciate ligament injury
at an earlier date.
Results
A total of 130 NFL players (average age, 25.3 ± 3.2 years) who underwent ACLR and
returned to sport were identified. The average time to RTS after ACLR was 49.7 weeks
after surgery. Of the players, 23 (18%) required revision ACLR. There was no significant
difference in the length of time between ACLR and RTS in players who did not require
revision ACLR (50.2 ± 10.1 weeks) and those who did (48.3 ± 11.0 weeks, P = .40). Time to RTS was not found to correlate with time to reinjury in athletes
requiring revision ACLR (R = 0.21; 95% confidence interval, –0.18 to 0.54). A large proportion of players (56%)
sustained a reinjury within the first 10 weeks of returning to NFL game play.
Conclusions
Our study found that timing of RTS after ACLR was not a significant risk factor for
revision surgery in NFL athletes. Time to RTS was also not shown to correlate with
time to reinjury.
Level of Evidence
Level III, case-control study.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
August 5,
2018
Received:
March 29,
2018
Footnotes
See commentary on page 163
The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this article. Full ICMJE author disclosure forms are available for this article online, as supplementary material.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 by the Arthroscopy Association of North America
ScienceDirect
Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Editorial Commentary: Put Me Back Into The Game Coach! It's Time, I'm Ready: Time Is of No Essence After An Anterior Cruciate Ligament ReconstructionArthroscopyVol. 35Issue 1
- PreviewRetear after an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is unavoidable. Many variables contribute to graft failure after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Time from surgery to return to play is not the sole determinant. Graft maturation and symmetrical return of function need to be more carefully evaluated to reduce the risk of reinjury.
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