School of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
OrthoSport Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
Am J Sports Med. 2019 Jun;47(7):1550-1556. doi: 10.1177/0363546519843908. Epub 2019 May 14.
Achieving preinjury levels of athletic performance has been challenging for elite athletes after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Although a recent study found that 77% of Australian Football League (AFL) players who underwent ACL reconstruction from 1999 to 2013 returned to play at the highest level, the study did not indicate how consistently or well they were able to play.
To identify the number of AFL players who returned to play consistently over 2 seasons after ACL reconstruction, compare their playing performance in these seasons with preinjury performance, and evaluate factors associated with returning to preinjury levels of performance.
Case series; Level of evidence, 4.
Analysis included 104 AFL players who underwent ACL reconstruction between 1999 and 2013. All had played at least 10 AFL matches in 1 season before ACL injury. Ranking points, as devised by AFL statisticians, were used to measure individual playing performance.
Of the 104 players who played at least 10 matches in 1 season before ACL injury, 53 (51%) returned to play at least 10 matches in 2 seasons after surgery. Of these 53 players, 36 (68%) returned to their preinjury levels of performance. The 17 remaining players who did not return to their preinjury performance still performed comparably to the AFL average level after surgery. Players <25 years old (odds ratio = 2.9, P = .01) or <90 kg (odds ratio = 2.7, P = .03) had greater odds of returning to their preinjury levels of performance.
Returning to play on a consistent basis was a substantial challenge for AFL players after ACL reconstruction. However, among players who did return to play consistently over 2 seasons, their postsurgery average performance was comparable with the AFL average level of performance, and two-thirds returned to their preinjury levels of performance. Younger and lighter players were more likely to return to their preinjury levels of performance, possibly given the nature of AFL club playing list management decisions.
对于前交叉韧带（ACL）重建后的精英运动员来说，恢复到受伤前的运动水平一直具有挑战性。尽管最近的一项研究发现，1999 年至 2013 年间接受 ACL 重建的澳大利亚足球联赛（AFL）球员中有 77% 能够回到最高水平，但该研究并未表明他们能够多稳定、多出色地打球。
确定 ACL 重建后连续两个赛季重返 AFL 比赛的球员人数，比较他们在这些赛季中的表现与受伤前的表现，并评估与恢复到受伤前运动水平相关的因素。
病例系列；证据水平，4 级。
分析纳入了 1999 年至 2013 年间接受 ACL 重建的 104 名 AFL 球员。所有球员在 ACL 受伤前的 1 个赛季中都至少参加过 10 场 AFL 比赛。AFL 统计人员设计的排名积分用于衡量个人比赛表现。
在 ACL 受伤前的 1 个赛季中至少参加过 10 场比赛的 104 名球员中，53 名（51%）在手术后连续两个赛季至少参加了 10 场比赛。在这 53 名球员中，36 名（68%）恢复到了受伤前的运动水平。其余 17 名未能恢复到受伤前表现的球员在手术后的表现仍与 AFL 平均水平相当。年龄<25 岁（比值比=2.9，P=0.01）或体重<90kg（比值比=2.7，P=0.03）的球员恢复到受伤前运动水平的可能性更大。
ACL 重建后，AFL 球员要持续稳定地重返赛场是一项重大挑战。然而，在连续两个赛季稳定回归的球员中，他们的术后平均表现与 AFL 平均水平相当，其中三分之二的球员恢复到了受伤前的运动水平。年轻和体重较轻的球员更有可能恢复到受伤前的运动水平，这可能是 AFL 俱乐部球员名单管理决策的性质所致。
