scholarly journals Limited Evidence Suggests a Protective Association Between Oral Contraceptive Pill Use and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Females: A Systematic Review

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 498-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Samuelson ◽  
Ethan M. Balk ◽  
Erika L. Sevetson ◽  
Braden C. Fleming

Context: Female athletes aged 14 to 18 years are at particular risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. Hormonal factors are thought to predispose them to this injury. Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) might reduce ACL injury risk, although the literature appears controversial. Objective: To evaluate the association between OCP use and ACL injuries in women. The secondary objective was to determine the rates of ACL injuries in the pre- and postovulatory phases of the menstrual cycle in OCP and non-OCP (NOCP) users. Data Sources: Searches were performed across 4 reference databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane), abstracts from 6 specialty societies, ClinicalTrials.gov , and reference lists of relevant papers. Study Selection: We included studies investigating the association between OCP use and ACL injuries in females of any age or the distribution of ACL injuries across the menstrual cycle in OCP and NOCP users. Study Design: Systematic review. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Data Extraction: Data regarding study design, population characteristics, OCP details, outcome definitions, analytic methods, and results were extracted from the included studies. The methodological quality of each study was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Results: The search yielded 1305 citations, of which 7 retrospective observational studies met the inclusion criteria. Two large case-control studies with higher methodological quality suggested that OCP use may reduce the risk of sustaining an ACL injury. Five comparative studies examining injury distribution across the menstrual cycle in OCP and NOCP users had conflicting findings, were heterogeneous, and were limited by low methodological quality. Conclusion: The evidence suggests OCP use may reduce the risk of ACL injury; however, no conclusions can be drawn regarding differences in risk of ACL injuries between OCP and NOCP users across the menstrual cycle. Studies were limited by small sample sizes, heterogeneity, and methodological concerns.

Author(s):  
Carla van Usen ◽  
Barbara Pumberger

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common. A goal of rehabilitation is to restore functional capacity. Currently, there are contrary opinions regarding the effectiveness of using either closed or open kinetic chain exercises (CKC, OKC) only, or a combination of both, following ACL injury, to obtain the most effective outcome. The debate also reflects the approach which places the least force on the ACL itself. Objective: To identify the evidence of effectiveness of closed versus open kinetic chain exercises, or a combination of both, in anterior cruciate ligament rehabilitation. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken of experimental studies published since 1990. Included studies were on humans with ACL injury. The ACL ligament could be healthy, ruptured, deficient or reconstructed. Studies on animals and cadavers were excluded. The methodological quality of included studies was appraised with the PEDro tool. Studies were graded according to hierarchy level, methodological quality, statistical significance, effect size, and clinical relevance. Recommendations were made on the strength of the body of evidence. The outcome measure of interest was force on the ACL during exercise. Results: 23 eligible studies were included. The majority of studies reflected lower level experimental designs with moderate methodological quality. Three studies showed a significant difference in ACL force comparing CKC and OKC exercises, 11 demonstrated trends towards significant differences in outcome and nine showed no significant differences. Conclusion: There is moderate evidence to recommend CKC exercises or a combination of CKC and OKC exercises, rather than OKC exercises alone, for ACL rehabilitation when considering forces on the ACL.


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 < .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 < .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.


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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
G Linde Strauss ◽  
D Janse van Rensburg ◽  
C Grant ◽  
A Jansen van Rensburg ◽  
M Velleman ◽  
...  

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (18) ◽  
pp. 1162-1167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marthe Mehus Lie ◽  
May Arna Risberg ◽  
Kjersti Storheim ◽  
Lars Engebretsen ◽  
Britt Elin Øiestad

BackgroundThis updated systematic review reports data from 2009 on the prevalence, and risk factors, for knee osteoarthritis (OA) more than 10 years after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.MethodsWe systematically searched five databases (PubMed, EMBASE, AMED, Cinahl and SPORTDiscus) for prospective and retrospective studies published after 1 August 2008. Studies were included if they investigated participants with ACL tear (isolated or in combination with medial collateral ligament and/or meniscal injuries) and reported symptomatic and/or radiographic OA at a minimum of 10 years postinjury. We used a modified version of the Downs and Black checklist for methodological quality assessment and narrative synthesis to report results. The study protocol was registered in PROSPERO.ResultsForty-one studies were included. Low methodological quality was revealed in over half of the studies. At inclusion, age ranged from 23 to 38 years, and at follow-up from 31 to 51 years. Sample sizes ranged from 18 to 780 participants. The reported radiographic OA prevalence varied between 0% and 100% >10 years after injury, regardless of follow-up time. The studies with low and high methodological quality reported a prevalence of radiographic OA between 0%–100% and 1%–80%, respectively. One study reported symptomatic knee OA for the tibiofemoral (TF) joint (35%), and one study reported symptomatic knee OA for the patellofemoral (PF) joint (15%). Meniscectomy was the only consistent risk factor determined from the data synthesis.ConclusionRadiographic knee OA varied between 0% and 100% in line with our previous systematic review from 2009. Symptomatic and radiographic knee OA was differentiated in two studies only, with a reported symptomatic OA prevalence of 35% for the TF joint and 15% for PF joint. Future cohort studies need to include measurement of symptomatic knee OA in this patient group.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42016042693.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e000778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Fox ◽  
Jason Bonacci ◽  
Samantha Hoffmann ◽  
Sophia Nimphius ◽  
Natalie Saunders

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.


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 ◽  
...  

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.


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.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document