A study in American Journal of Sports Medicine investigated whether the return-to-sport rate of athletes who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction differed based on primary or revision procedure.
The researchers identified 552 patients, 497 of whom received primary reconstruction and 55 of whom received revision reconstruction. They compared the return-to-sport rate after one year, for both patients who returned any sport and those who returned to their usual sport.
Here's what you need to know:
1. There was no significant difference in overall return-to-sport rates between the primary reconstruction (90.9 percent) and revision reconstruction (87.3 percent) groups.
2. Primary reconstruction patients were more likely to return to their usual sport, rather than any sport; 63.6 percent of primary reconstruction patients resumed their usual sport, compared with 49.1 percent of revision reconstruction patients.
3. When considering retears within the first postoperative year, there were seven in the primary reconstruction group (1.4 percent) and one in the revision reconstruction group (1.8 percent).
4. Functional scores were significantly better in the primary reconstruction group on most metrics, including symptoms, daily living and quality of life.
5. Patients who were most likely to return to their usual sport were high-level players who underwent primary reconstruction and had high quality of life scores, without complications.