November 2024

ORTHOPAEDICS

ACL INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAMS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Samantha Watson, medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, class of 2027, won the Best Presentation Award at the 2024 Orthopaedic Summit Fellow, Resident, and Medical Student Research Summit.
This presentation discussed the effectiveness of ACL injury prevention programs and their implications for protecting athletes, particularly in the context of adolescent and collegiate athletics.

The team’s approach
Watson and the other study investigators, including Watson’s mentor Vehniah K. Tjong, MD, of Northwestern Medicine Orthopaedic Surgery, conducted a comprehensive search of databases including Embase, PubMed, and Ovid (MEDLINE). They analyzed the data using forest plots and performed sub-group analyses for:
  • Female athletes
  • High school vs. collegiate/professional athletes
  • Specific sports (handball and soccer)
  • The use of balance boards in prevention programs
The review analyzed 18 articles, nine randomized control trials and nine prospective cohort studies, involving 25,166 athletes, 85% of whom were female. The mean age of athletes was 19.3 years. The interventions were neuromuscular training programs focused on speed, agility, and strength, and each studied intervention lasted at least one season.

Takeaways
Watson’s findings indicate that athletes who participated in prevention programs had a significantly lower risk of ACL rupture, with a pooled risk ratio of 0.46.
  • Subgroup analyses revealed that collegiate/professional athletes and those using balance boards experienced significant risk reduction, with risk ratios of 0.50 and 0.49, respectively.
  • No significant risk reduction was observed for female athletes (risk ratio of 0.57).
  • Watson concluded that athletes who do not engage in prevention programs are nearly twice as likely to sustain an ACL rupture.
This study supports the use of neuromuscular training programs, particularly for collegiate/professional athletes, and the use of balance boards to reduce the risk of ACL injuries.
Watson and her team were invited to share this research at other conferences, and they are actively submitting the manuscript for publication. 

Refer a Patient

Northwestern Medicine welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with you in caring for your patients. ​

You May Also Like