2025 ISAKOS Biennial Congress ePoster
Sexual Activity After ACL Reconstruction: Age, Gender and Graft Don’t Matter!
Riccardo D'Ambrosi, MD, Milano ITALY
Federico Valli, MD, Milan ITALY
Srinivas B. S. Kambhampati, MS(Ortho), FRCS(Eng & Glasg), FRCS(Tr&Orth), FICS, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh INDIA
Amit Meena, MBBS, MS, DNB, Jaipur, Rajasthan INDIA
IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milan, Italy, ITALY
FDA Status Not Applicable
Summary
ACL injury worsens sexual function scores in parallel with quality of life, and reconstructive surgery improves these scores regardless of age, sex or graft type.
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Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in sexual function and quality of life following arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Subanalyses were performed to compare the findings among males and females, graft choices and patients over and equal 30 years old to those under 30 years old.
Methods
Each patient was asked to complete the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale-Short Form (NSSS-S) at the time of hospital admission by to determine their sexual activity before the injury (preinjury) and at the time of hospital admission (preoperative). In addition, patients were recontacted at a minimum follow-up of 24 months (final follow-up). Quality of life was measured using the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Quality of Life Questionnaire (ACL-QOL) at hospital admission (preoperative) and at a minimum follow-up of 24 months (final follow-up).
Results
A total of 303 patients were included in the study, of whom 233 (76.9%) were male and 70 were female (23.1%). The mean age at surgery was 31.5±11.11 years, and the mean follow-up was 63.28±20.08 months. In 289 (95.4%) patients, the hamstring tendon was involved, while in 14 (4.6%) patients, the patellar tendon was involved. Sexual activity at the last follow-up was significantly different from that preoperatively (p<0.001), while no difference was found between preinjury and the last follow-up values (p>0.99). Preinjury sexual activity was greater than preoperative activity (p<0.001). The quality of life at the last follow-up was significantly greater than the preoperative quality of life (p<0.001). No differences were found between subgroup analyses at each follow-up regarding both sexual activity and quality of life (p>0.05), except for patients who underwent patellar tendon surgery who reported a lower preoperative ACL-QOL (p=0.045).
Conclusions
ACL injury worsens sexual function scores in parallel with quality of life, and reconstructive surgery improves these scores regardless of age, sex or graft type.