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Researchers urge increased research, public awareness of noncontact ACL (knee) injuries
ROSEMONT, Ill.-- Each year, 80,000 people, mostly ages 15-25 years, tear their anterior cruciate ligament, (ACL), a structure that provides support in the center of the knee. Fully 70 percent of the ACL injuries occur in sports during noncontact situations; when the person is pivoting on one foot or landing from a jump, for example. Identifying the risk factors and developing prevention programs to reduce injury risk will have widespread health and economic impact, according to an article in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Citing recommendations developed in a consensus workshop held in June 1999, conducted jointly by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, the Orthpopaedic Research and Education Foundation, the National Athletic Trainers' Association, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the authors call for increased public awareness of the risk of ACL injury and programs that may prevent it.
Because more men than women participate in sports, more men sustain this injury. However, in sports like soccer, basketball and volleyball, women have a two to eight times greater risk for sustaining an ACL injury in a noncontact situation.
The authors classify risk factors as environmental (equipment, shoe-surface interaction), anatomy (knee angle, hip angle), hormonal (estrogen and menstrual cycle shifts), and biomechanical (skill level, muscle strength). They also assess prevention programs that consist of drills in which athletes substitute a high risk maneuver for a low risk one; landing with knees bent instead of straight, for example. These programs all aim to increase neuromuscular control, improve balance and teach strategies for avoiding situations that put people at higher risk of injury.
"So far, these programs succeed in minimizing the athlete's risk," Dr. Griffin said. "But we need further confirmation by additional studies before we can recommend that they be put into use by the general public."
An orthopaedic surgeon is a medical doctor with extensive training in the diagnosis and nonsurgical as well as surgical treatment of the musculoskeletal system including bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves.
The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is an official review publication of the 24,500-member Academy, a not-for-profit organization which provides educational programs for orthopaedic surgeons, allied health professionals and the public. An advocate for improved patient care, the Academy supports the United Nations-declared Bone and Joint Decade, 2000-2010. The peer-reviewed JAAOS is published bimonthly. Abstracts are available online at http://www.jaaos.org.
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