omes of ACL Reconstruction in Adolescent Female Athletes

OBJECTIVES: Background: There is limited information in the literature specifically detailing the outcomes of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) in adolescent female athletes. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to (1) describe the 2-year clinical outcomes in skeletally mature adolescent female athletes undergoing ACLR and (2) determine if graft selection, concomitant injury, sport, body mass index, etc. affect outcomes. METHODS: Methods: 200 consecutive skeletally mature adolescent females (207 knees) underwent primary isolated ACLR between June 2011 and January 2014 at a single orthopaedic outpatient clinic, Patients were asked to return for a physical exam and completion of subjective questionnaires. RESULTS: Results: Clinical information was available on 114/207 knees with physical examination performed on 86 knees. Ninety-nine of 114 (86.8%) patients were able to return to play. Thirteen (11.4%) knees sustained a graft retear and eleven (9.6%) patients tore their contralateral ACL during the study period. KOOS data demonstrated a mean of 87.6 (14.1) for sports/rec and a mean of 82.1 (14.7) for quality of life subscales. All knees demonstrated a Lachman’s exam with less than 5mm side to side difference. 5 knees had rotatory instability with a pivot shift of greater than 2+. Twenty-one (21.2% ) knees underwent a subsequent nonrevision surgery on their reconstructed knee. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: This population of skeletally mature adolescent female athletes reported a high rate of return to play (86.8%) with ACL graft retear rate (11.4% ) and contralateral ACL tear (9.6%) consistent with other reports on male athletes undergoing ACL reconstruction. The variables of patient’s BMI, mechanism of injury, graft type, concomitant meniscal pathology at time of index procedure or undergoing a subsequent second surgery on the ipsilateral knee did not impact patient reported outcomes or physical exam findings at two years. Overall patient reported outcomes were high even in the setting of the 11.4% retear and 9.6% contralateral tear rates.