Treatment decision-making process after an anterior cruciate ligament injury: patients’, orthopaedic surgeons’ and physiotherapists’ perspectives

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the treatment decision-making process after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury from patients’, orthopaedic surgeons’ and physiotherapists’ perspectives. METHODS: The study is a part of the NACOX study, which is designed to describe the natural corollaries after ACL injury. For the present study, a subgroup 101 patients were included. Patients, their orthopaedic surgeons and their physiotherapists, answered a Shared Decision-Making Process (SDMP) questionnaire, when treatment decision for ACL reconstruction surgery (ACLR) or non-reconstruction (non-ACLR) was taken. The SDMP questionnaire covers four topics: “ informed patient”, “ to be heard”, “ involvement” and “ agreement”. RESULTS: Most (75–98%) patients considered their needs met in terms of being heard and agreement with the treatment decision. However, fewer in the non-ACLR group compared to the ACLR group reported satisfaction with information from the orthopaedic surgeon (67% and 79%), or for their own involvement in the treatment decision process (67% and 97%). CONCLUSION AND PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Most patients and caregivers considered that patients’ needs to be informed, heard and involved, and to agree with the decision about the treatment process, were fulfilled to a high extent. However, patients where a non-ACLR decision was taken experienced being involved in the treatment decision to a lower extent. This implies that the non-ACLR treatment decision process needs further clarification, especially from the patient involvement perspective. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-022-05745-4.