ACL Knee Surgery and Knee Injuries

Knee Surgeries and College Athletes

– What are the effects of prior knee surgery including ACL knee surgery on subsequent injury, and surgery for NCAA college athletes?

It is known that college athletes that have undergone knee surgery in the past are at risk for addition injuries to their knee.

There is an excellent study by C. Rugg and Colleagues (2014) that quantified the risk of additional knee injury and knee surgery in a group if division 1 college athletes that had undergone knee surgery prior to entering college.

A total of 456 division 1 athletes entering college were included in the study group.

The college athletes, that had surgery prior to entering college, were divided up into four different groups. The groups included the following:
– 22%: undergone some type of orthopaedic surgery (shoulder surgery, knee surgery, etc.)
– 10%: knee surgery prior to admission to college
– 3.5%: ACL knee surgery
– 6%: multiple surgeries

The group of college students that had undergone knee surgery prior to their admission to college had a risk of a repeat knee injury 6.8 fold more than the control group and there was a 14 fold increased risk of undergoing additional knee surgery.

The group of college students that had ACL knee surgery prior to admission to college had a 19.6 fold increased risk of sustaining an additional knee injury and an 829 fold increase in undergoing additional knee surgery while in college when compared to the control group.

American Journal of Sports Medicine: Rugg et. al. , vol 42, vol 4, 2014