Thread by @czuppons

But onward ho! First up with my note thread attached: @DrKateWebster on #ACL RTS and reinjury rates in elite female athletes.

Impt to point out: a lot of data is often on male athletes, not as much known about female athletes!

#sportsfisio2020

@DrKateWebster At ALL LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION, females are at greater risk for #ACL injury.

Overall, elite athletes: 83% return to pre-injury level

Elite females: Also 83%!
(incl handball, soccer, alpine skiing/snowboarding, basketball)

@DrKateWebster Time for RTS:
- No sex difference (Walden et al, KSSTA 2017)
- NCAA Division 1 soccer: cleared at 6 mths (Howard 2015)
- WNBA (Namdari 2011): 11.8 mths

@DrKateWebster Across studies, female athlete
RTP NOT influenced by age, BMI, position, knee injury prevention pgms, surgical factors.

@DrKateWebster Across studies, female sport performance data post ACLR is severely lacking.

- WNBA: no major difference than controls
- Alpine skiing: more podium finishes, higher performance rankings at 3 yrs post-surgery (male skiiers w/ similar findings)

@DrKateWebster Longevity of play post ACL injury in females:

- WNBA: similar career length (may have had slightly longer careers)

@DrKateWebster Future ACL injury in elite athletes: Overall, 5.2% reinjury rate (Lai 2017)
- In females:
* WNBA 7% (w/in first 2 yrs), 16% (career)
* Soccer: 26%
* Mixed Database (Rosenstiel 2019): 36% (males only 13%)
* NCAA basketball: 20% (Gordon 2014)
* NCAA all sports: 23% (Kamath 2014)
-

@DrKateWebster So combined ...
26% elite female athletes sustain multiple #ACL injuries. YIKES!

"Every 2nd retired elite female football player has MRI evidence of knee OA before age 50 years" pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31209539/

Prien et al, KSSTA 2019

@DrKateWebster SUMMARY:
In elite female athletes, data is sparse. What is known:
- RTS is high, similar to males
- career longevity doesn't seem to be compromised
- 26% will have future ACL injury
- may be sports specific differences