ACL tears create big problems...at least in my case!

Things continue to move forward.  This week marked the first major change in my routine.  No longer do I need to spend 8-12 hours attached to the CPM machine.  I have now graduated.  At least that is how it feels...I now only need to spend 6-8 hours on the CPM machine.  The two extra hours in my day has been a great blessing and allows me to spend a little more time resting, playing with the kids, and time to get out of the house.

Over the last couple of weeks I have answered a lot of questions as to the reason my knee is in the shape that it is...being that I am so young to have a knee in such bad shape.  Here is an article that I think explains some of the why's behind my knee problems.  Really, it all comes back to my ACL tear 6.5 years ago.  Once I tore my ACL and my meniscus...nothing has ever been the same.  As you will see...that happens more often than we may know.

Article written by my Knee Surgeon, Dr. Stefan Tarlow and posted on his blog at http://blog.tarlowknee.com/

This studies examines patient behavior patterns and patient physical ability to resume their "normal life" after surgery for complete ACL (anterior cruciate knee ligament) tear.  

This is information that orthopedic surgeons are aware of but is not common knowledge in the general population.  The point here is that an ACL tear of the knee is a severe and life changing injury, and despite sophisticated treatments based on years of research we as surgeons are not able to return all our patients "back to normal".  

Most people have not returned to their preinjury level of sports participation at 12 months after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery. Twelve months’ follow-up is too early to assess return-to-sport outcomes accurately.

This study was undertaken to evaluate how many people have full return-to-sport outcomes after ACL reconstruction surgery.

Data was collected at 2 to 7 years after ACL reconstruction surgery regarding preinjury sports participation, postoperative sports participation, and subjective knee function. 

A total of 314 participants (age 22-42) were studied at 2-7 years after ACL reconstruction surgery. At follow-up, 45% were playing sport at their preinjury level and 29% were playing competitive sport. Ninety-three percent of the study sample had attempted sport at some time after their ACL reconstruction surgery, and many of these could not participate due to the effects of their knee injury.  Some took as long as 3 years after surgery  to return to full activities, but still not to the exact same activities compared to before the knee injury. 

Here is the point.  Less than 50% of the study sample had returned to playing sport at their preinjury level or returned to participating in any competitive sport when surveyed at 2 to 7 years after ACL reconstruction surgery. People who return to sport within 12 months may not be able maintain their sports participation farther into the future.