Subscribe

Arthroscopy/Sports

A Different Way to Think About Risk of Acute ACL Reconstruction

New data point to a nice way to counsel patients about the risks and rewards of going early

What’s the Claim?

A large-database study sourced from PearlDiver, which includes records from a variety of commercial and government insurance programs found:

Delaying ACL reconstruction >6 weeks in patients younger than 40 was associated with a 34% reduction in the odds of a subsequent procedure being performed for arthrofibrosis.
Waiting >10 weeks in patients over 40 was associated with a 65% reduction in those odds.
The actual frequency of those secondary procedures (manipulation under anesthesia or arthroscopic lysis of adhesions) is very low — < 3% in all groups studied.

How’s It Stack Up?

Read next

Cut or Cast? A Big RCT About Achilles Tendon Surgery in NEJM

A large RCT gives us new ways to clearly present surgical vs. non-surgical options to patients with ruptured Achilles

Getting Bitten by the Dog Bone — AC Joint Buttons and Tunnel Widening

Getting Bitten by the Dog Bone — AC Joint Buttons and Tunnel Widening

Top hats are for parties and dog bones are for the pooch; these button constructs are not behaving as well as we'd hoped

p Values Don’t Have a Shot With Injections for Frozen Shoulder

p Values Don’t Have a Shot With Injections for Frozen Shoulder

One shot or three? Read this post, and you decide.