scholarly journals Higher risk of ACL rupture in amateur football compared to professional football: 5-year results of the ‘Anterior cruciate ligament-registry in German football’

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Szymski ◽  
Leonard Achenbach ◽  
Johannes Zellner ◽  
Johannes Weber ◽  
Matthias Koch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Skill Level ◽  
Targeted Prevention ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Acl Injuries ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

Abstract Purpose Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are a common severe type of football injury at all levels of play. A football-specific ACL registry providing both prospective ACL injury data according to the skill level and risk factors for ACL injury is lacking in the literature. Methods This study is based on the prospective ‘ACL registry in German Football’ implemented in the 2014–15 season. Professional (1st–3rd league), semi-professional (4th–6th league) and amateur leagues (7th league) were analysed regarding the incidence and risk factors for ACL injuries. Injuries were registered according to the direct reports of the injured players to the study office and double-checked via media analysis. After injury registration, the players received a standardised questionnaire. Data were analysed from the 2014–15 to the 2018–19 football season. Results Overall, 958 ACL injuries were registered during the 5-year study period. The incidence of ACL injuries was highest in amateur football (0.074/1000 h football exposure) compared to professional (0.058/1000 h; p < 0.0001) and semi-professional football (0.043/1000 h; p < 0.0001). At all skill levels, match incidence (professional: 0.343; semi-professional: 0.249; amateur: 0.319) was significantly higher than training incidence (professional: 0.015; semi-professional: 0.004; amateur: 0.005). Major risk factors were previous ACL injury (mean: 23.3%), other knee injuries (mean: 19.3%) and move to a higher league (mean: 24.2%). Conclusion This sports-specific ACL registry provides detailed information on the incidence and risk factors for ACL injuries in football over five years. Risk factors are skill level, match exposure, move to a higher league and previous knee injury. These factors offer potential starting points for screening at-risk players and applying targeted prevention. Level of evidence II.

scholarly journals Risk Factors for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in Competitive Adolescent Alpine Skiers

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 232596711876683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Westin ◽  
Marita L. Harringe ◽  
Björn Engström ◽  
Marie Alricsson ◽  
Suzanne Werner
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Left Knee ◽  
Alpine Skiing ◽  
Acl Injuries ◽  
Alpine Skiers ◽  
Anterior Cruciate ◽  
Reduced Risk

Background: There is a high risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in alpine skiers. To reduce or try to prevent these injuries, intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors need to be identified. Purpose: To identify possible intrinsic and extrinsic ACL injury risk factors among competitive adolescent alpine skiers. Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Between 2006 and 2009, a cohort of 339 alpine ski students (176 male, 163 female) from Swedish ski high schools were prospectively observed in terms of ACL injuries. First-time ACL injuries were recorded. In September, prior to each ski season, the skiers were clinically examined according to a specific knee protocol. Results: Overall, 11 male and 14 female skiers sustained a total of 25 first-episode ACL injuries. The majority of injuries occurred in the left knee ( P < .05). Skiers who had participated in alpine skiing for >13 years (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.68-1.00; P < .05) had a reduced risk of sustaining an ACL injury. Eighteen ACL injuries occurred during training, 12 in the technical discipline of giant slalom, and 8 in slalom. Fourteen skiers reported not to be fatigued at all at the time of injury, and 8 skiers reported that they were somewhat fatigued. Conclusion: ACL injuries occurred more often in the left knee than the right. This should be taken into consideration in the design of ACL injury prevention programs. Those who reported a higher number of active years in alpine skiing showed a reduced risk of sustaining an ACL injury. No other factor among those studied could be identified as an independent risk factor for ACL injury.

scholarly journals Barriers to Predicting the Mechanisms and Risk Factors of Non-Contact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Ali ◽  
Gholamreza Rouhi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Ligament Injury ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Acl Injuries ◽  
Hand Search ◽  
Injury Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

High incidences of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, frequent requirements for ACL reconstruction, and limited understanding of ACL mechanics have engendered considerable interest in quantifying the ACL loading mechanisms. Although some progress has been made to better understand non-contact ACL injuries, information on how and why non-contact ACL injuries occur is still largely unavailable. In other words, research is yet to yield consensus on injury mechanisms and risk factors. Biomechanics, video analysis, and related study approaches have elucidated to some extent how ACL injuries occur. However, these approaches are limited because they provide estimates, rather than precise measurements of knee - and more specifically ACL - kinematics at the time of injury. These study approaches are also limited in their inability to simultaneously capture many of the contributing factors to injury. This paper aims at elucidating and summarizing the key challenges that confound our understanding in predicting the mechanisms and subsequently identifying risk factors of non-contact ACL injury. This work also appraise the methodological rigor of existing study approaches, review testing protocols employed in published studies, as well as presents a possible coupled approach to better understand injury mechanisms and risk factors of non-contact ACL injury. Three comprehensive electronic databases and hand search of journal papers, covering numerous full text published English articles were utilized to find studies on the association between ACL and injury mechanisms, ACL and risk factors, as well as, ACL and investigative approaches. This review unveils that new research modalities and/or coupled research methods are required to better understand how and why the ACL gets injured. Only by achieving a better understanding of ACL loading mechanisms and the associated contributing factors, one will be able to develop robust prevention strategies and exercise regimens to mitigate non-contact ACL injuries.

scholarly journals Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Prevention Exercises: Could a Neuromuscular Warm-Up Improve Muscle Pre-Activation before a Soccer Game? A Proof-of-Principle Study on Professional Football Players

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4958
Author(s):  
Alessandro de Sire ◽  
Andrea Demeco ◽  
Nicola Marotta ◽  
Lucrezia Moggio ◽  
Arrigo Palumbo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Activation Time ◽  
Exercise Protocol ◽  
Warm Up ◽  
Anterior Cruciate ◽  
Proof Of Principle

Neuromuscular warm-up has been shown to decrease the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury improving muscular firing patterns. All preventive training programs described in the literature have a duration of several weeks. To date, no studies have explored the immediate effect of a neuromuscular warm-up exercise on pre-activation time of the knee stabilizer muscles. Thus, this proof-of-principle study aimed at evaluating the acute effects of a neuromuscular warm-up exercises on the electromyographic activation of knee stabilizer muscles’ activation pattern. We included 11 professional football players, mean aged 23.2 ± 4.5 years, from a Southern Italy football team. All of them underwent a standard warm-up exercise protocol at the first day of the evaluation. At 1 week, they underwent a structured neuromuscular warm-up exercise protocol. We assessed as outcome measure the pre-activation time (ms) of rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis (VM), biceps femoris (BF), and medial hamstrings (MH) upon landing. Outcomes were assessed before and after the standard warm-up and neuromuscular warm-up. Pre-activation time of RF, VM, BF and MH significantly improved only after neuromuscular warm-up (p < 0.05); moreover, there was a significant (p < 0.05) between-group difference in pre-activation time of all muscles after the neuromuscular warm-up compared with the standard warm-up. These findings suggested that physical exercise consisting of a structured injury prevention neuromuscular warm-up might have an immediate effect in improving the activation time of the knee stabilizer muscles, thus potentially reducing the risk of ACL injury.

Examining the Dynamic Nature of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Risk Factors in Women’s Collegiate Soccer

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Elena M. D’Argenio ◽  
Timothy G. Eckard ◽  
Barnett S. Frank ◽  
William E. Prentice ◽  
Darin A. Padua
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Range Of Motion ◽  
Injury Risk ◽  
External Rotation ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Dynamic Risk Factors ◽  
Dynamic Risk ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

Context: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are a common and devastating injury in women’s soccer. Several risk factors for ACL injury have been identified, but have not yet been examined as potentially dynamic risk factors, which may change throughout a collegiate soccer season. Design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: Nine common clinical screening assessments for ACL injury risk, consisting of range of motion, movement quality, and power, were assessed in 29 Division I collegiate women’s soccer players. Preseason and midseason values were compared for significant differences. Change scores for each risk factor were also correlated with cumulative training loads during the first 10 weeks of a competitive soccer season. Results: Hip external rotation range of motion and power had statistically significant and meaningful differences at midseason compared with preseason, indicating they are dynamic risk factors. There were no significant associations between the observed risk factor changes and cumulative training load. Conclusions: Hip external rotation range of motion and power are dynamic risk factors for ACL injury in women’s collegiate soccer athletes. Serial screening of these risk factors may elucidate stronger associations with injury risk and improve prognostic accuracy of screening tools.

scholarly journals No Association Between Risk of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture and Selected Candidate Collagen Gene Variants in Female Elite Athletes From High-Risk Team Sports

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Einar Andreas Sivertsen ◽  
Kari Bente Foss Haug ◽  
Eirik Klami Kristianslund ◽  
Anne-Marie Siebke Trøseid ◽  
Jari Parkkari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Team Sports ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Acl Rupture ◽  
Acl Injuries ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

Background: Several single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) in collagen genes have been reported as predisposing factors for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. However, the evidence is conflicting and does not support a clear association between genetic variants and risk of ACL ruptures. Purpose: To assess the association of previously identified candidate SNVs in genes encoding for collagen and the risk of ACL injury in a population of elite female athletes from high-risk team sports. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: A total of 851 female Norwegian and Finnish elite athletes from team sports were included from 2007 to 2011. ACL injuries acquired before inclusion in the cohort were registered by interview. The participants were followed prospectively through 2015 to record new complete ACL injuries. Six selected SNVs were genotyped ( COL1A1: rs1800012, rs1107946; COL3A1: rs1800255; COL5A1: rs12722, rs13946; COL12A1: rs970547). Results: No associations were found between ACL rupture and the SNVs tested. Conclusion: The study does not support a role of the 6 selected SNVs in genes encoding for collagen proteins as risk factors for ACL injury. Clinical Relevance: Genetic profiling to identify athletes at high risk for ACL rupture is not yet feasible.

scholarly journals Longitudinal Assessment of Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Risk Factors During Maturation in a Female Athlete: A Case Report

2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory D. Myer ◽  
Kevin R. Ford ◽  
Jon G. Divine ◽  
Eric J. Wall ◽  
Leamor Kahanov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Female Athlete ◽  
Injury Risk ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Knee Abduction ◽  
Injury Risk Factors ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

Abstract Objective: To present a unique case of a young pubertal female athlete who was prospectively monitored for previously identified anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk factors for 3 years before sustaining an ACL injury. Background: In prospective studies, previous investigators have examined cross-sectional measures of anatomic, hormonal, and biomechanical risk factors for ACL injury in young female athletes. In this report, we offer a longitudinal example of measured risk factors as the participant matured. Differential Diagnosis: Partial or complete tear of the ACL. Measurements: The participant was identified from a cohort monitored from 2002 until 2007. No injury prevention training or intervention was included during this time in the study cohort. Findings: The injury occurred in the year after the third assessment during the athlete's club basketball season. Knee examination, magnetic resonance imaging findings, and arthroscopic evaluation confirmed a complete ACL rupture. The athlete was early pubertal in year 1 of the study and pubertal during the next 2 years; menarche occurred at age 12 years. At the time of injury, she was 14.25 years old and postpubertal, with closing femoral and tibial physes. For each of the 3 years before injury, she demonstrated incremental increases in height, body mass index, and anterior knee laxity. She also displayed decreased hip abduction and knee flexor strength, concomitant with increased knee abduction loads, after each year of growth. Conclusions: During puberty, the participant increased body mass and height of the center of mass without matching increases in hip and knee strength. The lack of strength and neuromuscular adaptation to match the increased demands of her pubertal stature may underlie the increased knee abduction loads measured at each annual visit and may have predisposed her to increased risk of ACL injury.

scholarly journals Anterior Cruciate ligament injuries of the knee:

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
G Linde Strauss ◽  
D Janse van Rensburg ◽  
C Grant ◽  
A Jansen van Rensburg ◽  
M Velleman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Mechanism Of Injury ◽  
Mri Scan ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Valgus Stress ◽  
Acl Injuries ◽  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

Abstract Background and problem statement Anterior cruciate ligament injuries are common among athletes and the general public. These injuries may lead to significant absence from activity with an associated financial and social burden. No definitive association has been described between mechanism of injury and pathology to enable us to put preventative measures in place in order to limit these injuries. Aim To determine whether there is an association between the mechanism of injury and the pathology seen on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. Methods This was a cross-sectional analytical study. Eighty seven male patients with an ACL injury, who had an MRI scan of the knee within the last two years participated in this study. Participants were contacted to give consent that their information be used in this study. The mechanism of injury and the pathology seen on the MRI scan was noted and categorised into different mechanism of injury groups and associated pathology groups. Statistical analyses included summaries of the data and a test for association between mechanism of injury and pathology. Since there were multiple pathology responses to each mechanism, a modified version of the chi-square test for independence was used. A 5% level of significance was specified. Results MRI scans of ACL injuries indicated that the mechanism of a solid foot plant with rotation of the knee has a greater tendency to be associated with medial meniscal injuries (77%), and also a 54% possibility to be associated with lateral meniscal injuries. A solid foot plant with a valgus stress on the knee showed a higher incidence of associated medial collateral ligaments (MCL) injuries (41%) and femoral bone bruising (62 %). These two mechanisms of injury are the most common in ACL injuries and contribute to the clinical significance found in this study. The p-value was however not statistically significant (p=0.44, chi-square value=20.27, df=45) for any association between pathology and mechanism of injury. Conclusion Some injury mechanisms causing ACL injury were more common than others and also had more associated pathology. The most common mechanism of injury noted is a solid foot plant with either rotation of the knee or valgus stress on the knee. Strengthening tissue structures involved in those movement patterns that cause these mechanisms can possibly limit ACL injuries in athletes and the general public.  Key words Anterior cruciate ligament injury, mechanism, association, pathology, MRI scan, prevention.

scholarly journals Anterior cruciate ligament injuries in Australian football: should women and girls be playing? You’re asking the wrong question

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e000778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Fox ◽  
Jason Bonacci ◽  
Samantha Hoffmann ◽  
Sophia Nimphius ◽  
Natalie Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Early Years ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Acl Injuries ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
Australian Football ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries have been a rising concern in the early years of the women’s Australian Football League (AFLW), eliciting headlines of a ‘knee crisis’ surrounding the league. There has been a focus on female biology as the primary factor driving the high rate of ACL injuries in the AFLW. Emphasising Australian football (AF) as being dangerous predominantly due to female biology may be misrepresenting a root cause of the ACL injury problem, perpetuating gender stereotypes that can restrict physical development and participation of women and girls in the sport. We propose that an approach addressing environmental and sociocultural factors, along with biological determinants, is required to truly challenge the ACL injury problem in the AFLW. Sports science and medicine must therefore strive to understand the whole system of women in AF, and question how to address inequities for the benefit of the athletes.

scholarly journals The Landing Error Scoring System as a Screening Tool for an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury–Prevention Program in Elite-Youth Soccer Athletes

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darin A. Padua ◽  
Lindsay J. DiStefano ◽  
Anthony I. Beutler ◽  
Sarah J. de la Motte ◽  
Michael J. DiStefano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Screening Tool ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Receiver Operator Characteristic ◽  
Acl Injuries ◽  
Youth Soccer ◽  
Jump Landing ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

Context Identifying neuromuscular screening factors for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a critical step toward large-scale deployment of effective ACL injury-prevention programs. The Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) is a valid and reliable clinical assessment of jump-landing biomechanics. Objective To investigate the ability of the LESS to identify individuals at risk for ACL injury in an elite-youth soccer population. Design Cohort study. Setting Field-based functional movement screening performed at soccer practice facilities. Patients or Other Participants A total of 829 elite-youth soccer athletes (348 boys, 481 girls; age = 13.9 ± 1.8 years, age range = 11 to 18 years), of whom 25% (n = 207) were less than 13 years of age. Intervention(s) Baseline preseason testing for all participants consisted of a jump-landing task (3 trials). Participants were followed prospectively throughout their soccer seasons for diagnosis of ACL injuries (1217 athlete-seasons of follow-up). Main Outcome Measure(s) Landings were scored for “errors” in technique using the LESS. We used receiver operator characteristic curves to determine a cutpoint on the LESS. Sensitivity and specificity of the LESS in predicting ACL injury were assessed. Results Seven participants sustained ACL injuries during the follow-up period; the mechanism of injury was noncontact or indirect contact for all injuries. Uninjured participants had lower LESS scores (4.43 ± 1.71) than injured participants (6.24 ± 1.75; t1215 = −2.784, P = .005). The receiver operator characteristic curve analyses suggested that 5 was the optimal cutpoint for the LESS, generating a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 64%. Conclusions Despite sample-size limitations, the LESS showed potential as a screening tool to determine ACL injury risk in elite-youth soccer athletes.

scholarly journals Epidemiology of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in Italian First Division Soccer Players

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Grassi ◽  
Luca Macchiarola ◽  
Matteo Filippini ◽  
Gian Andrea Lucidi ◽  
Francesco Della Villa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Incidence Rate ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Soccer Players ◽  
Injury Incidence ◽  
Acl Injuries ◽  
Professional Soccer ◽  
Incidence Proportion ◽  
Anterior Cruciate

Background: The burden of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in professional soccer players is particularly relevant as it represents a potentially career-threatening injury. Hypothesis: Our hypotheses were that (1) injury incidence rate would be similar to that reported in the literature, (2) we would identify a uniform distribution of the injuries along the season, and (3) injury incidence rate would be similar in high-ranked and lower ranked teams, based on final placement in the league. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological study. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: Professional male soccer players participating in the Serie A championship league in 7 consecutive seasons (2011-2012 to 2017-2018) were screened to identify ACL injuries through the online football archive transfermarkt.com . Exposure in matches and training were calculated. Results: There were 84 ACL injuries found (mean player age, 25.3 ± 4.2 years). Overall, 25% of ACL injuries were reruptures (15%) or contralateral injuries (10%). ACL incidence rate was 0.4215 per 1000 hours of play during Serie A matches, 0.0305 per 1000 hours of training (rate ratio [RR], 13.8; 95% CI, 8.4-22.7; P < 0.0001), and 0.0618 per 1000 hours of total play. Injury distribution had a bimodal peak, with the highest number of events in October and March. Alternatively, training injuries peaked in June and July. A significantly higher incidence rate was found for the teams ranked from 1st to 4th place compared with those ranked 5th to 20th (0.1256 vs 0.0559 per 1000 hours of play; RR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.4-3.6; P = 0.0003). A similar finding was found for injury incidence proportion (3.76% vs 1.64%; P = 0.0003). Conclusion: The overall incidence rate of ACL injuries in Italian Serie A was 0.062 per 1000 hours, with a 14-fold risk in matches compared with training. Relevantly, 25% were second injuries. Most injuries occurred in October and March, and an almost 2-fold incidence rate and incidence proportion were noted in those teams ranked in the first 4 positions of the championship league. Clinical Relevance: Knowing the precise epidemiology of ACL injury in one of the most competitive professional football championship leagues could help delineate fields of research aimed to investigate its risk factors.

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