“When can I return to sport?” is a common question asked by patients following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The answer to this question is complex and dependent on a variety of injury and patient factors.
Rehabilitation following Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction is an essential part of a full recovery. The ultimate goal of this rehabilitation program is to restore functional ability and enable you to return to your sport or physical activities, with a reduced risk for additional injury.
This is a common question asked by patients that have injured or torn their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) when considering reconstructive surgery as a treatment.
ACL tears are one of the most commonly reported knee injuries in athletes, particularly in pivoting and cutting sports such as soccer, basketball, football and rugby. In our corner of the world, skiing and snow sports are another common cause of ACL injuries.
Reconstructive surgery is currently the gold standard treatment for an injured or torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). In ACL reconstruction, the torn ACL is surgically removed and replaced with another tendon or “graft”.
An allograft is one of several types of grafts that can be used to reconstruct a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). An allograft is tissue harvested from a human donor.
The patellar tendon autograft is the second most common choice used for an ACL reconstruction autograft after the hamstring tendon autograft.
The quadriceps tendon autograft is the third type of autograft used for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. —– Learn more about the other graft types here —– Although the use of this graft was first described in 1979, it has not been widely used until more recently. The most recent surveys show that worldwide, this…
Synthetic grafts for ACL reconstruction were first introduced in the early 1980’s, however, they are rarely used. These first generation grafts showed initial promise with short term follow up, but had a high failure rate in the long run.
Autografts in ACL reconstruction are tendons harvested from the patient’s own body at the beginning of the procedure and prepared as a tissue graft that can be inserted into the knee during the same procedure in an attempt to restore the normal anatomy of the ACL.
The surgeons at Banff Sport Medicine recommend an exercise program or ‘pre-habilitation’ (prehab) prior to surgery. Research shows that regaining the strength and movement in your injured limb before surgery will improve your recovery.
Over 140 Banff Sport Medicine patients aged under 25 years that underwent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructive surgery from 2014 to 2016 contributed to the findings of one of the largest ACL clinical research studies, called the STAbiLiTY Study. This study, led by Dr Alan Getgood from the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic in London,…
