Youth Male Football Players Undergoing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Demonstrate High Rates Of Return To Sport And Progression To Professional Level Football

Youth Male Football Players Undergoing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Demonstrate High Rates Of Return To Sport And Progression To Professional Level Football

Gabriel Furlan Margato, MD, BRAZIL Gilvan Rodrigues da Silva Nunes, MD, BRAZIL Davi Casadio, MD, BRAZIL Moises Cohen, MD, PhD, Prof., BRAZIL Diego Costa Astur, MD, PhD, BRAZIL

Universidade Federal de São Paulo, SAO PAULO, SP, BRAZIL


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Anatomic Location

Anatomic Structure

Diagnosis / Condition

Treatment / Technique

Ligaments

ACL

Diagnosis Method


Summary: Tracking 163 young male footballers post-ACL reconstruction, most injuries occurred in the under-17 and under-20 categories, with 68.1% returning to sport, 24.5% reaching elite levels, and 83.3% of professionals continuing to play, with hamstring tendons used in 77.3% of surgeries.


Purpose

to evaluate the progression of young male football athletes who undergo ACL reconstruction and track their progression from youth to professional level play after a minimum of 2 years of follow-up.

Methods

163 male players from 29 football teams underwent ACL reconstruction and were followed from 2015 to 2021. They were evaluated regarding category progression (under-13 to professional), type of graft used, presence of re-rupture, and return to sport (RTS) /continuation of the sport.

Results

Most injuries occurred in players in the under-17 (31.3%) and under-20 (47.2%) categories. One hundred eleven patients continued playing after ACL reconstruction (68.1%), and 52 patients discontinued their careers (31.9%). 40 out of 111 patients achieve the elite adult level (24.5%), and 71 are still playing and continuing to participate in youth football, yet to be in the elite adult level (43.6% of all 163 patients). Among those who achieved the elite adult level, 8 underwent an ACL revision reconstruction. The graft of choice in 77.3% of the primary ACL reconstructions was the hamstring tendons.

Conclusion

Athletes from professional football teams who underwent ACL reconstruction while still playing in their clubs' youth teams demonstrated an RTS rate of 68.1%. Among players who returned to the sport and became adult league professionals, 83.3% continued to play at the adult professional level, and 16.7% discontinued their careers.