Epidemiology of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears in the National Football League

2021 ◽  
pp. 036354652110101
Author(s):  
Riann M. Palmieri-Smith ◽  
Christina D. Mack ◽  
Robert H. Brophy ◽  
Brett D. Owens ◽  
Mackenzie M. Herzog ◽  
...  

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are common in contact athletics and have a significant effect on the athletic performance and well-being of affected players. The prevalence, timing, and characteristics of ACL tears in National Football League (NFL) athletes are lacking. Purpose: To define the epidemiology of ACL tears among NFL athletes. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: This retrospective study includes all ACL injuries entered into the NFL injury database through the centralized leaguewide electronic health record system for the 2015-2019 seasons. Results: A total of 314 ACL injuries occurred during the 5-year study period, with a mean of 62 per year. The overall 1-season injury risk of an NFL player sustaining an ACL injury was 1.9% (95% CI, 1.7%-2.1%). Most ACL injuries occurred during games (n = 199), with a higher rate observed in the preseason games as compared with the regular season games (6.1 vs 2.7 per 10,000 player-plays; P < .01). NFL players with ≤3 of experience had a higher preseason injury rate (9.57 ACL tears per 1000 player-seasons) than those with ≥4 years of experience (5.12 ACL tears per 1000 player-seasons; P < .01). NFL athletes playing on special teams had the highest rate of ACL injuries (7.6 per 10,000 player-plays) in comparison with all other player positions. Conclusion: ACL injury incidence was fairly consistent across all years studied and occurred more frequently in players with ≤3 years of NFL experience. Tears were more common during games, special teams play, and the preseason.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Grassi ◽  
Luca Macchiarola ◽  
Matteo Filippini ◽  
Gian Andrea Lucidi ◽  
Francesco Della Villa ◽  
...  

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3_suppl2) ◽  
pp. 2325967120S0012
Author(s):  
Mark Howard ◽  
Hyunwoo Paco Kang ◽  
Samantha Solaru ◽  
Alexander E. Weber ◽  
Mark F. Rick C

Objectives: Previous orthopaedic literature has examined the effect of synthetic playing surfaces on the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in athletes and produced varying and inconclusive results. The objective of this study was to examine the role of playing surface on the incidence and risk of ACL injury in collegiate soccer athletes. Methods: The NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) database was queried for ACL injuries for male and female soccer players from the 2004-05 through the 2013-14 seasons at all levels of competition. The number of athlete exposures (AEs), defined as 1 athlete participating in 1 practice or competition in which they were exposed to the possibility of athletic injury, were recorded for grass and synthetic playing surfaces. Both the reported injuries and exposures provided were weighted in order to represent the entire NCAA collegiate soccer population. Normalized ACL incidence rates were calculated as well as 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Rate ratios comparing competition type amongst both competition and practice were calculated. Results: ACL injuries were more common on grass surfaces (1.16 per 10,000 AEs, 95%CI 1.12-1.20) than artificial turf (0.92 per 10,000 AEs, 95%CI 0.84-1.04). This difference was statistically significant (IRR 1.26, p<0.0001), and driven primarily by the difference in injury incidence during practice. The injury incidence during practice on natural grass (1.18 per 10,000 AEs, 95% CI 1.11-1.26) was significantly greater than the injury incidence rate during practice on artificial turf (0.067 per 10,000 AEs, 95%CI 0.043-0.096). Players were 17.7 times more likely (95%CI 10.6678-27.2187, p<0.0001) to sustain an ACL injury during practice on natural grass when compared to practice on artificial turf. However, there was no significant difference in injury incidence during matches (IRR 0.96, p=0.44), with matches on natural grass (3.35 per 10,000 AEs, 95% CI 3.21-3.51) equivalent to matches on artificial surfaces (3.49 per 10,000 AEs, 95%CI 3.18-3.81). When comparing exposure type, the injury rate was significantly greater during matches (3.38 per 10,000 AEs, 95% CI 3.25-3.52) compared to practices (0.82 per 10,000 AEs, 95%CI 0.77-0.88), with a 4.10-fold increase in ACL injury incidence during matches compared to practice (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Between 2004 and 2014, NCAA soccer players experienced a greater number of ACL injuries on natural grass playing surfaces compared with artificial turf playing surfaces. This difference is driven by injuries during practice, where athletes were nearly 18 times more likely to suffer an ACL injury on grass versus artificial turf. While ACL injuries were more likely during matches compared to practices, no difference in incidence was noted between playing surfaces. Additional study is warranted investigating potential causes for this observed increased risk with soccer practice on grass fields.


2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory D. Myer ◽  
Dai Sugimoto ◽  
Staci Thomas ◽  
Timothy E. Hewett

Background: In female athletes, sports-related injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) increase during adolescence and peak in incidence during the mid- to late teens. Although biomechanical investigations indicate that a potential window of opportunity exists for optimal timing for the initiation of integrative neuromuscular training (NMT) in young female athletes, the influence of the timing of initiation of these programs on the efficacy of ACL injury reduction has yet to be evaluated. Hypothesis/Purpose: The purpose of the current report was to systematically review and synthesize the scientific literature regarding the influence of age of NMT implementation on the effectiveness for reduction of ACL injury incidence. The hypothesis tested was that NMT would show a greater effect in younger populations. Study Design: Meta-analysis; Level of evidence 1a. Methods: Data were pooled from 14 clinical trials that met the inclusion criteria of (1) number of ACL injuries reported; (2) NMT program used; (3) female participants were included; (4) investigations used prospective, controlled trials; and (5) age of participants was documented or was obtainable upon contact with the authors. A meta-analysis with odds ratio (OR) was used to compare the ratios of ACL injuries between intervention and control groups among differing age categorizations. Results: A meta-analysis of the 14 included studies demonstrated significantly greater knee injury reduction in female athletes who were categorized in the preventive NMT group compared with those who were in the control group (OR: 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.35, 0.83). Lower ACL injuries in mid-teens (OR 0.28; CI: 0.18, 0.42) compared with late teens (OR 0.48; CI: 0.21, 1.07) and early adults (OR 1.01; CI: 0.62, 1.64) were found in participants undergoing NMT. Conclusion: The findings of this meta-analysis revealed an age-related association between NMT implementation and reduction of ACL incidence. Both biomechanical and the current epidemiological data indicate that the potential window of opportunity for optimized ACL injury risk reduction may be before the onset of neuromuscular deficits and peak knee injury incidence in female athletes. Specifically, it may be optimal to initiate integrative NMT programs during early adolescence, before the period of altered mechanics that increase injury risk.


Author(s):  
Joseph Larwa ◽  
Conrad Stoy ◽  
Ross S. Chafetz ◽  
Michael Boniello ◽  
Corinna Franklin

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are the most common ligament injury of the knee, accounting for between 100,000 and 200,000 injuries among athletes per year. ACL injuries occur via contact and non-contact mechanisms, with the former being more common in males and the later being more common in females. These injuries typically require surgical repair and have relatively high re-rupture rates, resulting in a significant psychological burden for these individuals and long rehabilitation times. Numerous studies have attempted to determine risk factors for ACL rupture, including hormonal, biomechanical, and sport- and gender-specific factors. However, the incidence of ACL injuries continues to rise. Therefore, we performed a systematic review analyzing both ACL injury video analysis studies and studies on athletes who were pre-screened with eventual ACL injury. We investigated biomechanical mechanisms contributing to ACL injury and considered male and female differences. Factors such as hip angle and strength, knee movement, trunk stability, and ankle motion were considered to give a comprehensive, joint by joint analysis of injury risk and possible roles of prevention. Our review demonstrated that poor core stability, landing with heel strike, weak hip abduction strength, and increased knee valgus may contribute to increased ACL injury risk in young athletes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 472-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia M. Montalvo ◽  
Daniel K. Schneider ◽  
Kate E. Webster ◽  
Laura Yut ◽  
Marc T. Galloway ◽  
...  

Objective To evaluate sex differences in incidence rates (IRs) of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury by sport type (collision, contact, limited contact, and noncontact). Data Sources A systematic review was performed using the electronic databases PubMed (1969–January 20, 2017) and EBSCOhost (CINAHL, SPORTDiscus; 1969–January 20, 2017) and the search terms anterior cruciate ligament AND injury AND (incidence OR prevalence OR epidemiology). Study Selection Studies were included if they provided the number of ACL injuries and the number of athlete-exposures (AEs) by sex or enough information to allow the number of ACL injuries by sex to be calculated. Studies were excluded if they were analyses of previously reported data or were not written in English. Data Extraction Data on sport classification, number of ACL injuries by sex, person-time in AEs for each sex, year of publication, sport, sport type, and level of play were extracted for analysis. Data Synthesis We conducted IR and IR ratio (IRR) meta-analyses, weighted for study size and calculated. Female and male athletes had similar ACL injury IRs for the following sport types: collision (2.10/10 000 versus 1.12/10 000 AEs, IRR = 1.14, P = .63), limited contact (0.71/10 000 versus 0.29/10 000 AEs, IRR = 1.21, P = .77), and noncontact (0.36/10 000 versus 0.21/10 000 AEs, IRR = 1.49, P = .22) sports. For contact sports, female athletes had a greater risk of injury than male athletes did (1.88/10 000 versus 0.87/10 000 AEs, IRR = 3.00, P &lt; .001). Gymnastics and obstacle-course races were outliers with respect to IR, so we created a sport category of fixed-object, high-impact rotational landing (HIRL). For this sport type, female athletes had a greater risk of ACL injury than male athletes did (4.80/10 000 versus 1.75/10 000 AEs, IRR = 5.51, P &lt; .001), and the overall IRs of ACL injury were greater than all IRs in all other sport categories. Conclusions Fixed-object HIRL sports had the highest IRs of ACL injury for both sexes. Female athletes were at greater risk of ACL injury than male athletes in contact and fixed-object HIRL sports.


Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 997
Author(s):  
Alessandro de Sire ◽  
Nicola Marotta ◽  
Andrea Demeco ◽  
Lucrezia Moggio ◽  
Pasquale Paola ◽  
...  

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury incidence is often underestimated in tennis players, who are considered as subjects conventionally less prone to knee injuries. However, evaluation of the preactivation of knee stabilizer muscles by surface electromyography (sEMG) showed to be a predictive value in the assessment of the risk of ACL injury. Therefore, this proof-of-concept study aimed at evaluating the role of visual input on the thigh muscle preactivation through sEMG to reduce ACL injury risk in tennis players. We recruited male, adult, semiprofessional tennis players from July to August 2020. They were asked to drop with the dominant lower limb from a step, to evaluate—based on dynamic valgus stress—the preactivation time of the rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis, biceps femoris, and medial hamstrings (MH), through sEMG. To highlight the influence of visual inputs, the athletes performed the test blindfolded and not blindfolded on both clay and grass surfaces. We included 20 semiprofessional male players, with a mean age 20.3 ± 4.8 years; results showed significant early muscle activation when the subject lacked visual input, but also when faced with a less-safe surface such as clay over grass. Considering the posteromedial–anterolateral relationship (MH/RF ratio), tennis players showed a significant higher MH/RF ratio if blindfolded (22.0 vs. 17.0% not blindfolded; p < 0.01) and percentage of falling on clay (17.0% vs. 14.0% in grass; p < 0.01). This proof-of-principle study suggests that in case of absence of visual input or falling on a surface considered unsafe (clay), neuro-activation would tend to protect the anterior stress of the knee. Thus, the sEMG might play a crucial role in planning adequate athletic preparation for semiprofessional male athletes in terms of reduction of ACL injury risk.


Author(s):  
Joao Paulo Dias ◽  
Ariful Bhuiyan ◽  
Nabila Shamim

Abstract An estimated number of 300,000 new anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur each year in the United States. Although several magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-based ACL diagnostics methods have already been proposed in the literature, most of them are based on machine learning or deep learning strategies, which are computationally expensive. In this paper, we propose a diagnostics framework for the risk of injury in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) based on the application of the inner-distance shape context (IDSC) to describe the curvature of the intercondylar notch from MR images. First, the contours of the intercondylar notch curvature from 91 MR images of the distal end of the femur (70 healthy and 21 with confirmed ACL injury) were extracted manually using standard image processing tools. Next, the IDSC was applied to calculate the similarity factor between the extracted contours and reference standard curvatures. Finally, probability density functions of the similarity factor data were obtained through parametric statistical inference, and the accuracy of the ACL injury risk diagnostics framework was assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC). The overall results for the area under the curve (AUC) showed that method reached a maximum accuracy of about 66%. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity results showed that an optimum discrimination threshold value for the similarity factor can be pursued that minimizes the incidence of false positives and false positives simultaneously.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Elena M. D’Argenio ◽  
Timothy G. Eckard ◽  
Barnett S. Frank ◽  
William E. Prentice ◽  
Darin A. Padua

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.


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 ◽  
...  

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.


2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory D. Myer ◽  
Kevin R. Ford ◽  
Jon G. Divine ◽  
Eric J. Wall ◽  
Leamor Kahanov ◽  
...  

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.


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