Results of ACL reconstruction

Abstract

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common among athletes, and although their true natural history remains unclear, these injuries are functionally disabling; they predispose the knee to subsequent injuries and the early onset of osteoarthritis (OA) (1). The ultimate goal of ACL reconstruction should be, primarily, to have injured patients return to previous leisure, sports, and working and, secondarily, to prevent secondary knee OA. ACL reconstruction is one of the most common orthopaedic procedures performed in orthopaedic surgery today. Within the United States, the occurrence of ACL injuries is estimated 95,000 injuries annually, with roughly 50,000 requiring ACL reconstruction (2,3). According to the Norwegian National Knee Ligament Registry (NKLR), which is a prospective surveillance system for monitoring the outcome of cruciate ligament surgery, a total of 2714 primary ACL reconstruction surgeries were performed by 57 diff erent hospitals in Norway in 2006. This corresponds to an annual population incidence of primary ACL reconstruction surgeries of 34 per 100,000 citizens (85 per 100,000 citizens in the main at-risk 16–39 year age group) in Norway (4).