Playing Performance After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Among Australian Football League Players From 1999 to 2013.

Background: Achieving preinjury levels of athletic performance has been challenging for elite athletes after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Although a recent study found that 77% of Australian Football League (AFL) players who underwent ACL reconstruction from 1999 to 2013 returned to play at the highest level, the study did not indicate how consistently or well they were able to play.

Purpose: To identify the number of AFL players who returned to play consistently over 2 seasons after ACL reconstruction, compare their playing performance in these seasons with preinjury performance, and evaluate factors associated with returning to preinjury levels of performance.

Fifteen-Year Audit of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstructions in the Australian Football League From 1999 to 2013: Return to Play and Subsequent ACL Injury.

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury has been a major cause of missed game time among Australian Football League (AFL) players. Return to play after ACL reconstruction is not always achieved, even among elite athletes. The rate of subsequent ACL injury in the AFL from 1990 to 2000 was high as compared with that of other elite sports.

Eighty-three per cent of elite athletes return to preinjury sport after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a systematic review with meta-analysis of return to sport rates, graft rupture rates and performance outcomes.

Objectives: The primary objective was to calculate the rate of return to sport (RTS) following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in elite athletes. Secondary objectives were to estimate the time taken to RTS, calculate rates of ACL graft rupture, evaluate postsurgical athletic performance and identify determinants of RTS.

Design: Pooled RTS and graft rupture rates were calculated using random effects proportion meta-analysis.

Patellofemoral osteoarthritis is prevalent and associated with worse symptoms and function after hamstring tendon autograft ACL reconstruction.

Objectives: To evaluate the compartmental distribution of knee osteoarthritis (OA) after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), to determine if patellofemoral or tibiofemoral OA is more strongly associated with knee symptoms and function, and to evaluate the contribution of associated injuries and surgical delay to the development of OA.

Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 70 participants who underwent hamstring tendon (HT) ACLR 5-10 years previously. Radiographic OA was assessed according to the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) criteria.