Anterior cruciate ligament injury and reconstruction among university students

The consequences of athletic injuries extend beyond the musculoskeletal sys tem. Depression, anger, and tension have been observed in athletes with ath letic injuries. It was hypothesized that among student athletes, the psycho logic impact of injury may be seen as a drop in academic performance. Thirt y-eight students who had an anterior cruciate ligament injury and subsequen t reconstruction were evaluated retrospectively by academic transcript and questionnaire to measure their academic performance before their injury in the semester of their injury, and in the semester after their surgery. The patients were compared with randomly selected undergraduate control subject s. To evaluate any effect of the timing of the surgery on academic performa nce, the patients were separated into two groups, according to the timing o f their reconstruction: those mho had surgery during the academic semester, and those who elected to wait for a school break. There was a significant drop in grade point average of 0.3 grade points during the semester of inju ry among ail injured students. Compared with those who had surgery during a break, the students who had surgery during the semester received more freq uently the grade of failure (6% versus 0%) or incomplete (33% versus 9%). T hese students also missed more school days (10.5 days versus 1.5 days) and examinations (2.2 examinations versus 0.1 examinations). Only 47% of studen ts who had surgery during the semester were satisfied with their decision f or surgical timing, compared with 96% satisfied with the timing during an a cademic break. Acute anterior cruciate ligament rupture, and surgical recon struction during an academic semester, have a significant academic effect i n university students.