A Number of Young ACL Patients Undergo Second Knee Surgery Later on, Researchers Say

Physical Therapy Products—May 4, 2015

Physical Therapy Products report that a Hospital for Special Surgery study suggests that orthopedic surgeons are seeing an "epidemic" of ACL injuries among athletes with most cases often leading to a second ACL repair especially in younger patients.

Emily Dodwell, MD, MPH, FRCSC, pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery explains that the study measures "on a population level, the percentage of patients under age 21 who had subsequent ACL or non-ACL knee surgery following a primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction."

Investigators identified 23,912 primary pediatric ACL reconstructions in New York State. Out of those patients, 1,955 patients (8.2%) had a subsequent ACL reconstruction, and 3,341 patients (14%) had subsequent non-ACL knee surgery.

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