Soccer Player Return to Normal Function Rate After ACL Reconstruction

Soccer players who have returned to the game after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLr) have as good knee function as their uninjured team members, according to a new study.

While many studies have looked at a high primary success rate of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, only one study has compared male soccer players after ACL reconstruction compared with matched controls. Most studies have shown an increased risk of declining knee performance as time passes after the surgery.

In the study, “The knee function of the soccer players after ACLR is comparable with non-injured controls: A case-control study,” published in the September-December 2021 issue of the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery, the researchers performed a cross-sectional case-control study to better understand knee performance in soccer players after ACL reconstruction.

All the male professional soccer players were between the ages of 18 and 36 years when they sustained an ACL tear between January 2008 and December 2011. Patient-reported outcomes collected included Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, International Knee Documentation Committee-2000, Lysholm Score and Short Form 36 scale.

Over an average follow-up of 7.9 years, the injured soccer players scored lower in International Knee Documentation Committee-2000 and Lysholm scores than the healthy players, but their knee function still classified as normal on both scales. No differences were found between the groups though with the other patient-reported outcomes.

All the injured players who returned to sport withing 12 months after ACL injury were able to resume their careers at the same level. The researchers also found no correlation between player’s age and follow-up time after ACL reconstruction.

“After ACL reconstruction and successful return to professional sport, knee function is as good as uninjured team members in the midterm follow-up,” they wrote.

The researchers involved in the study included Marcin E. Domzalski and Filip Pieta of the Medical University of Lodz, Veteran’s Memorial Hospital in Lodz, Poland and Katarzyna Przybylak of the SPORTO Clinic and the Medical University of Lodz in Lodz, Poland.