Pediatric Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Reason Not to Wait Until Skeletal Maturity.

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears within the skeletally immature population give rise to controversy regarding the timing of treatment decisions due to the concern of iatrogenic damage to the open physis. Physis disruption from the required intraoperative graft tunnel drilling can lead to growth disturbance, thus ligament reconstruction is not without risk. Nonoperative management carries the risk of future damage to the menisci and cartilage as an ACL-deficient knee can be unstable.