Low proportion of skeletally immature patients met return-to-sports criteria at 7 Months following ACL reconstruction.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the proportion of skeletally immature anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed (ACLR) patients who achieve ≥90% of lower extremity recovery at 6-9 months post-operatively.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Biomechanical laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS

Skeletally immature ACLR patients.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Muscular strength (quadriceps, hamstrings, hip abductors, and hip extensors), dynamic balance (anterior reach, posteromedial reach, and posterolateral reach), and functional hops tests (single hop, triple hops, cross-over hops, and 6 m timed hops) were examined. The primary outcome variable was the proportion of the study patients whose limb symmetry index (LSI) were ≥90% during return to sport (RTS) tests.

RESULTS

A total of 105 skeletally immature ACLR patients who are planning to return to sporting activities (age: 13.4 ± 1.4 years) were enrolled. The proportion of skeletally immature ACLR patients who achieved ≥90% of LSI in all four strength, three balance, and four hop tests were 20.0%, 65.4%, and 27.8%. In those who completed all test battery (72/105), only 4.2% of skeletally immature ACLR patients demonstrated ≥90% of LSI in all RTS tests.

CONCLUSION

A small proportion of skeletally immature ACLR patients demonstrated ≥90% of lower extremity recovery approximately at 7 months following ACLR.