Anterior cruciate ligament reconstructive surgery in adolescent soccer andbasketball players

Objective: To evaluate trends in the frequency of anterior cruciate ligamen t (ACL) tears among adolescent soccer and basketball players resulting in r econstructive surgery, and to assess differences between female and male ad olescent athletes. Design: A retrospective review of ACL reconstructive surgeries performed fr om 1992 through 1997 and annual statewide participation rates obtained from the National Federation of Stare High School Associations. Setting: Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Patients: Adolescent athletes 13 to 19 years of age (78 girls, 31 boys) adm itted for ACL reconstruction due to soccer or basketball injuries. Main Outcome Measures: Number of ACL reconstructive surgeries and number of Massachusetts participants in high school soccer and basketball. Results: A total of 69 soccer (49 girls, 20 males) and 40 basketball (29 gi rls, 11 males) players underwent ACL reconstruction. A greater proportion o f girls underwent ACL surgery in both sports. The frequency increased over time for both sexes in both sports. Soccer-related surgeries increased at a faster rate among girls than boys. Basketball-related surgeries increased at a similar rate for both sexes, although in any given year more surgeries were performed on girls. Conclusion: The frequency of ACL surgery at our institution has increased a mong high school soccer and basketball players in a manner consistent with trends in sports participation. In our study, ACL surgery was more common a mong girls than boys.