Knee Injuries

Two ACL injury prevention programs significantly reduce injury rates among female athletes while improving athletic performance, says a new study.  Experts hope the findings will lead to greater compliance with training and widespread adoption of intervention programs.

Implementing a coach-led neuro-muscular warm-up for female high school soccer and basketball players at predominantly low-income, inner city schools is an extremely cost-effective way to reduce the number of non-contact leg injuries, including ACL injuries, among an under-served, at-risk population, a new study finds.

Male athletes are at increased risk of cartilage lesions in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-injured knees, placing them at higher risk of developing the debilitating joint condition osteoarthritis (OA), says a new study presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's 2011 Annual Meeting in San Diego.  A delay to reconstructive surgery did not increase the risk of developing full-thickness cartilage lesions, as long as surgery occurred within 12 months of injury. 

ACL injury prevention programs for female athletes such as the Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance (PEP) program have value, despite lingering doubts about their effectiveness raised in a new study. While there is evidence that injury prevention programs may reduce the risk of some knee injuries, additional research in necessary, said the study author.

Female athletes are at signficantly greater risk of ACL injuries than male athletes. Up to now, predicting whether a female athlete was at risk for an ACL injury required expensive and complex laboratory-based motion analysis systems, such as those used in creating video games. Now it will be possible  to predict whether an athlete is high risk for anterior cruciate ligament injuries using a simple, low-cost tool in a doctor's office, report the authors of a new study. 

Following a specially-designed warm-up regimen before sports measurably improves muscle strength and flexibility and corrects biomechanical imbalances blamed for the epidemic of anterior cruciate injuries among female athletes, says a new study of high school basketball players published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.                                                           

.

To stem the rising tide of ACL injuries among young female athletes, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) are launching a joint public service announcement (PSA) campaign to educate athletes, coaches, parents, health care professionals and media on prevention and treatment.

Female athletes who perform a specific exercise program called the Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance (PEP) program before practices and games suffer far fewer ACL injuries than those who don't.