Bob's ACL WWWBoard On-Line Knee Library |
Click here to return to the subsection Long-term Consequences of ACL Injuries.
------
Document Title: Carey-ASJM-Dec06.shtml
Article Title: Outcomes of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries to Running Backs and Wide Receivers in the National Football League
Authors: James L. Carey, MD, G. Russell Huffman, MD, MPH, Selene G. Parekh, MD, MBA and Brian J. Sennett, MD
Publication: American Journal of Sports Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Date: December 2006
Volume 34, pages 1911-1917
Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, long-term outcome, long-term consequences to professional career, professional football, NFL.
(Reference-denoting numbers appear in the same font and point size as the document text. As with all Knee Library documents, this article is provided in full-text form, complete with all figures and tables.)
Comments: This eye-opening study found that about 20% of professional NFL football players who incur an ACL injury never return to playing. Although this translates into a success rate (where "success" is defined not only as a successful ACL reconstruction and rehabilitation, but a full return to all pre-injury activities) of about 80%, it should be kept in mind that those who do return perform at a level roughly 33% below their original level. Granted, these are highly trained athletes with access to top-notch surgeons and physiotherapists and trainers. But it underscores the reality of knee injuries, and it shows that even the best of athletes either cannot or choose not to return to the activities in which they tore their ACLs. Given that football is a collision sport as well as a cutting-type sport, it is understandable that someone injured in this activity might be leery of returning to it. What is unknown here is the proportion of players who never returned to the sport out of concern for long-term knee health and not actual ability of the knee. It is interesting to note that the very best, most powerful players generally seemed to be the most injury-prone. The authors point out that the best players are the fastest (remember that kinetic energy, hence injury severity, increases with speed squared), and that they are the most agile as well as the most powerful. This means that they place high demands on their knees (hard pivoting, rapid direction changing, sudden stops and starts made possible by extremely powerful musculature). These are the types of elite athletes who could probably tear their ACLs just by forcefully extending their knees against massive resistance (e.g. sled-pressing a whole rack full of the heaviest weights). Keep in mind that although the muscles can be strengthened by training, knee-ligament strength remains relatively constant. And, as this football-player situation shows, even the strongest leg musculature, while helpful in protecting against joint injuries, cannot protect against all types of knee-ligament tears.
ABSTRACT
Background: Anterior cruciate ligament injuries are common in professional football players, and their career impact is unclear.
Purpose: To quantify the affect of anterior cruciate ligament injuries on professional football player performance.
Study Design: Cohort study (prognosis); Level of evidence, 2.
Methods: Anterior cruciate ligament injury data from the National Football League were collected during a 5-year period (1998–2002) for running backs and wide receivers. Recorded variables included player age, experience, position, time to return to competition, and yearly total yards and touchdowns. Power ratings (total yards divided by 10 plus touchdowns multiplied by 6) were calculated for the injury season as well as for the 3 seasons before and after injury. A control group consisted of all running backs and wide receivers without an identified anterior cruciate ligament injury who competed in the 2000 season.
Results: Data were analyzed for 31 running backs and wide receivers with 33 anterior cruciate ligament injuries. More than one fifth of players never returned to a National Football League game. Returning players first competed in a game 55.8 ± 5.4 weeks (mean ± standard error) after injury. For the 24 anterior cruciate ligament–injured players with a minimum total power rating (sum of all 7 seasons) of 200 points, power rating per game played decreased from 9.9 ± 1.1 preinjury to 6.5 ± 0.9 postinjury. This decline in power rating per game played was statistically significant (P = .002) when compared with the change for the 146 control players.
Conclusion: Nearly four fifths of National Football League running backs and wide receivers who sustain an anterior cruciate ligament injury return to play in a game. On return to competition, player performance of injured players is reduced by one third.
To access the full text of this article, please click here.
There is no charge for viewing articles. However, a password is required.
If you do not already have a password, please e-mail Michael Frind at frind@execulink.com for one.
Prior to requesting a password, please make certain you have read the
Site Terms of Use
pertaining to this site.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Copyright American Journal of Sports Medicine, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, December 2006. For details regarding copyright as it applies to this page, please visit the page entitled Site Terms of Use and Aspects of Copyright on this site.
This website was created for the benefit of the world's largest knee-injury community, Bob's ACL WWWBoard (also known as the Kneeboard), accessible to everyone at http://factotem.org.
Documents posted on this site serve merely as a virtual library, and are intended solely for purposes of making access to high-quality peer-reviewed medical-journal articles convenient for all users of the Kneeboard. Knee-injury patients are hereby encouraged to discuss this material with their respective medical teams.
Click here to return to the Main Entrance Page of the Knee Library.
Looking for the Main Index Page of Bob's ACL WWWBoard? Click here!
To find recent postings on Bob's ACL WWWBoard, use the Search Engine.
To find older postings on Bob's ACL WWWBoard, use the On-Line Archive.
Site Terms of Use and Aspects of Copyright