THE IMPACT OF SURGICAL TIMING ON POSTOPERATIVE MOTION AND STABILITY FOLLOWING ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION

A prospective study was designed to determine the impact of surgical t iming on postoperative motion and stability following anterior cruciat e ligament (ACL) reconstructive surgery. The study population was limi ted to acute ACL ruptures from downhill skiing undergoing arthroscopic ACL surgery without arthrotomy or surgical intervention for other lig amentous structures; 185 patients were entered into four separate grou ps based on the time interval from injury to surgery. Motion and stabi lity were tested at multiple time points from the index surgery and ad verse events were recorded. We found no statistical difference in rest oration of extension or flexion in any group at any time point. KT-100 0 data at 12 months showed a side-to-side difference of less than or e qual to 3 mm in 94%, with 6% showing a side-to-side difference of >3 a nd less than or equal to 5 mm. We conclude that, in this population, b y using modern arthroscopic surgical techniques and an aggressive post operative physical therapy protocol, motion and stability can be resto red in a high percentage of patients and that surgical success is inde pendent of the timing of surgery.