Main injury patterns for ACL injuries in female football players

Keywords: soccer; video analysis; mechanism. This blog summarises a recently published paper assessing distinct ACL injuries in professional female footballers (1). Why is this study important? Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are a well-known problem in football and show a multiple times increased incidence in female football (2). This is of particular interest with increasing […]

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10+1 Clinical Tips for Vertical Jump Testing after ACLR

Keywords: vertical jumps, testing, ACL, return to sport Vertical jumps play a crucial role in the return-to-sport testing protocol following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). This recommendation extends beyond athletes in jumping sports, as vertical jumps metrics are sensitive to detect lower limb deficits even without advanced equipment. However, the effectiveness of these tests relies […]

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Healing of anterior cruciate ligament rupture as seen on MRI is associated with better patient-reported outcomes

Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; anterior cruciate ligament healing; rehabilitation Why is this study important? Current treatment options for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture often result in unsatisfactory outcomes such as sport and activity limitations, instability and additional knee injuries, persistent pain, early onset of knee osteoarthritis, and reduced long-term quality of life. Treatments for […]

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The ACL injury journey – a guide for patients

This blog accompanies two infographics – published in British Journal of Sports Medicine – presenting the best available evidence, and designed with input from people who have experienced ACL injury. Both authors of the infographics are clinicians and researchers who work with many people of all ages and levels of sport after ACL injury. These infographics […]

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Football ACL injuries reloaded: how, where, and when #KnowledgeTranslation

Part of the BJSM’s #KnowledgeTranslation blog series Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are a serious concern for the football player. While there is an increasing trend for these injuries [1], the media dimension of ACL injuries is continuing to grow. 50% of these concerning injuries can be prevented [2], but conclusive data are lacking for […]

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Mind the Soft Tissue Gap – “Acute Knee Injuries”

By Dr Irfan Ahmed (T: @Irfan_sem) Over the last week, I have had time to reflect on the twitter feedback from my first blog. I must confess to feeling slightly overwhelmed, the “#softtissuegap” is trending, and has certainly outgrown its initial aim. One thread debated ‘if SEM should focus on acute care, secondary MSK clinics or even […]

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The ethical dilemma surrounding management of anterior cruciate ligament injuries

By Grayson Harwood @GraysonHarwood I recently had a patient (female, early 20’s) with a full-thickness ACL rupture with no other associated osteochondral, ligamentous, or meniscal injury – A ‘clean’ ACL rupture if you will. The injury occurred in a typical fashion – non-contact, change of direction, valgus/internal rotation mechanism while playing social-level football. At the […]

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Keep calm and carry on return to sport testing after an ACL injury: clinician-scientists weigh in on knee injury risk

By Jacob J. Capin, Lynn Snyder-Mackler, May Arna Risberg & Hege Grindem Imagine you are a sports medicine clinician responsible for an athlete with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Her surgery goes well, she completes her rehabilitation meticulously, passes your clinic’s return to sport (RTS) criteria, and starts to progress to full RTS. Now imagine another […]

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It is time to stop wasting time and money debating graft types and surgical approaches for ACL injuries: The secret probably lies in optimising rehabilitation

By Adam Culvenor, PT, PhD, @agculvenor; and Christian Barton, PT, PhD, @DrChrisBarton Last month, Professor Lars Engebretsen expressed concern on this blog regarding the potential return to popularity of synthetic grafts for cruciate ligament deficient knees in an attempt to optimise outcomes. There has been a great deal of research attempting to identify the optimal […]

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