Rehabilitation and Return to Sport Testing After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Where Are We in 2022?

Alli Gokeler; Bart Dingenen; Timothy E Hewett

doi:10.1016/j.asmr.2021.10.025

Rehabilitation and Return to Sport Testing After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Where Are We in 2022?

Arthrosc Sports Med Rehabil. 2022 Jan 28;4(1):e77-e82. doi: 10.1016/j.asmr.2021.10.025. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Authors

Alli Gokeler^{1

2}, Bart Dingenen³, Timothy E Hewett^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ OCON Centre of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Hengelo, The Netherlands.
² Exercise Science and Neuroscience Unit, Department Exercise & Health, Faculty of Science, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany.
³ Reval Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
⁴ Hewett Global Consultants, Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.A.
⁵ Rocky Mountain Consortium for Sports Research, Edwards, Colorado, U.S.A.

Abstract

Athletes who sustain an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury often opt for an ACL reconstruction (ACLR) with the goal and expectation to return to sports at the preinjury level. The proportion of athletes who successfully return to preinjury-level sport is low and disappointing, whereas the rate of second ACL injury in athletes under the age of 20 has been reported to be as high as 40% after return to sport (RTS). Although in recent years, new insights pertaining to RTS have been published, the lack of validity of RTS criteria after ACLR remain. The purpose of this clinical commentary is to present a critical overview of the current literature on RTS testing after ACLR.