Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA
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Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc · Oct 2006
Randomized Controlled TrialFactors affecting return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with patellar tendon and hamstring graft: a prospective clinical investigation.
In athletes, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is recommended after injury to restore the normal knee function and allow subsequent return to sport. Successful ACL reconstruction with patellar tendon (PT) and hamstring tendon (HT) grafts combined with a well-structured rehabilitation program could bring athletes back to their previous level of sport activities. We prospectively followed-up 100 athletes who underwent ACL reconstruction with either PT (n=50) or HT grafts (n=50). ⋯ Conventional knee scales including IKDC, Lysholm, Noyes, and Tegner remain as reliable means of evaluating outcome of ACL reconstruction. However, the data obtained from these are not sufficient to determine which among the patients who had knee reconstruction can successfully return to sport. The use of the Marx knee activity rating scale and the evaluation of the athletes' psychological profile are additional scales that can be useful in determining which among the patients treated have a better chance of returning to their pre-injury activity levels.