The researchers conducted a retrospective review of patient records for all patients under 18 with ACL and meniscus tears at CHOP from Jan. 1999-Jan. 2011, and compared the incidence of ACL/meniscus tears to patients with tibial spine fractures during that same time period.

Results showed a total of 155 tibial spine fractures, 914 ACL tears and 996 meniscus tears during this period. Tibial spine fractures increased by only 1 incidence per year, whereas ACL tears increased by more than 11 per year and meniscus tears increased by almost 14 per year.

"Since tibial spine fractures were once thought to be the pediatric equivalent of an ACL tear, this continued rise in ACL tears in children suggests that injury patterns are changing and that the true incidence of these injuries is increasing," one researcher said.

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