Outcomes and Aging

Abstract

To the Editor: I am writing to you regarding the report on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rehabilitation by Fitzgerald et al and your subsequent discussion with Mark DeCarlo, James Irrgang, and Kevin Wilk in the February 2000 issue of the Journal. I read the report with great interest that is not only clinical in origin but also personal in origin, about which I will explain shortly. I have reason to suspect that the long-term outcome of the “successful” participants of the study may not be as positive as the short-term outcome. This suspicion is based on my personal experience and leads me to wonder about the status of the patients who participated in the nonoperative ACL rehabilitation programs as they age. I am a physical therapist currently practicing in an outpatient clinic with a mixed patient population in terms of ages and diagnoses. I will tell you a succinct version of my own story in chronological order, as it is easier to explain. I played soccer competitively beginning in junior high school and throughout high school and college. At the beginning of my sophomore year of college (early in the fall soccer season), I tripped one night over a ball and tore my ACL. At the time, I had moderate swelling and pain that lasted 2 …