A Secondary Injury Prevention Program May Decrease Contralateral Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Female Athletes: 2-Year Injury Rates in the ACL-SPORTS Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract

To determine whether the addition of perturbation training to a secondary injury prevention program reduces the rate of second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury compared to the prevention program alone. Single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Thirty-nine female athletes who intended to return to cutting/pivoting sports were enrolled 3 to 9 months after primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Athletes were randomized to receive a training program of either progressive strengthening, agility, plyometrics, and prevention (SAPP) (n = 20) or SAPP plus perturbation training (n = 19); each had 10 sessions over 5 weeks. Occurrence and side of second ACL injury were recorded for 2 years after primary ACLR. There were 9 second ACL injuries in the 2 years after ACLR. There was no statistically significant difference in rate or side of second ACL injury between the SAPP-plus-perturbation training and SAPP groups. Adding perturbation training to a secondary ACL injury prevention program did not affect the rate of second ACL injury in female athletes. <i>J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2020;50(9):523-530. Epub 1 Aug 2020. doi:10.2519/jospt.2020.9407</i>.